The Alabaster Amulet
by Dorkylokifan
Summary: Human AU. Loki buys a mansion with the intent of turning it into a bed and breakfast. Strange things happen to his guests and Loki suffers from strange disturbing dreams about murder, human sacrifice, and a man with blonde hair and haunted blue eyes. Ghost sex M/M Explicit. Not everything is what it appears to be. Murder Mystery. Haunted House. Witchcraft.
1. Chapter 1

This was his secret place. This was his sacred place. This was what he was told to build, and this was where he was told to go. It spoke to him and told him to build the house this way. This strange narrow room in the middle of the house had no door in which to enter or exit, save the one behind him. He sealed himself inside, putting wood putty over the seams in the knobless door. He will wait now. His wife and son were supposed to accompany him, but they escaped. His dear wife could not understand why this was so important. She'd called him mad and fled with their child in a horse carriage and boarded a steamboat south to return to her family's plantation. He was not concerned. He had the amulet which blessed him with wealth, incredible luck, and a beautiful estate. It was better than owning slaves. He owned souls.

XxXxXxXxX

"Sold! To the handsome young man in front for $545,000!" The auctioneer yelled. Loki smiled as the men around him glared and sneered at his victory. Mr. Gotz, the auctioneer fished out a large old key ring to hand to the young man.

"You are to have outbid all these real estate flippers," Mr. Gotz said. Loki fished through his man purse to find the stack of cashier's checks he needed to pay the man. This was a cash only auction. "So….would you like a tour of your new home?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you," Loki said proudly.

"You aren't from around here," He said.

"No, no. I'm definitely not," He chuckled as they climbed the steps up to the porch of the large Victorian mansion. Loki gazed at the painted details of the spindle railings. Every inch of this home was either carved, painted, or stained to exacting standards.

"Are you going to be living in this big house all alone?" Mr. Gotz asked.

"Just at first. I'm going to turn this place into a bed and breakfast,"

"That is an ambitious endeavor for someone your age," Mr. Gotz said as he looked over the tall twenty-something with black hair, milky skin, and green eyes.

"Yes this is an ambitious endeavor for me. I just graduated from college; I majored in business management,"

"So why a bed and breakfast?" he asked as he unlocked the front door. The heavy wrought iron keys were original to the house and clanked as he twisted them.

"Several reasons. I wanted to get away from the city; to meet new friends, and to have a job that doesn't require me to sit twelve hours a day in a gray cubicle,"

"Yes, but you must be wealthy to afford this place? Surely you do not need to work?" He pressed.

"I need purpose Mr. Gotz. Most young men in my position would drink their money away, or snort it up their noses. I didn't have to go to college. I wanted to," He said as the front door opened.

The house was an old Victorian mansion built in the late 1800's. It had eight upstairs bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a large kitchen, and both a finished basement and attic space that could be used for any number of purposes. "Wow!" He gasped.

"The house is in pristine condition. We don't know what happened to the previous owner. This place has been sitting vacant for the last 5 years and we had to confiscate it for unpaid property taxes. The police got involved at one point as we attempted to contact the man, but we were unsuccessful in locating him. Everyone fears something bad happened to him. He dropped a lot of money into fixing this place up and then vanished," Mr. Gotz explained.

"Well, if I find a dried mummy curled up in a closet I'll call you," Loki said with a touch of morbid humor. "Your cleaning crew did a great job of removing all the dust and cobwebs. This place is spotless," He said as he admired his surroundings.

"You're welcome," Mr. Gotz frowned. He never sent a cleaning crew.

"I'm surprised this estate was never vandalized. You said it sat empty for decades before it was bought five years ago?"

"The previous owner did not buy this property so much as he used old ordinance to sue the county for the rights. There is an old slum lord law on the books that allows squatters that make improvements to a derelict property to sue for ownership." He explained.

"Did you grow up in Maywood, Mr. Gotz?"

"Born and bred my entire life," He smiled with pride.

"Why didn't anyone in town ever notice this place before he came along?" He quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Well…um….eh….You know I have no idea. I used to walk by this place every day when I was a kid. I just never paid any attention to it. This place might as well have been a great big boulder or a void. It was part of the landscape of our little town. No one ever thought it was very interesting," He said as his face flushed with either embarrassment or anger. Loki could not tell which.

"The details are beautiful," Loki said as he admired his new home. He looked at the bannister of the grand curving staircase which was stained a deep cherry brown. Even the risers on the staircase had little embellishments that showcased the value of the property. The mansion was easily worth quadruple what he paid for it. The hardwood floors looked sturdy and expensive and the furniture had a rich layer of patina. "I think I'll set up a registration desk here in the parlor," He stated as he mentally inventoried all the items in the room. They moved on to the kitchen which was decorated in a classic black and white color scheme. The appliances were only 5 years old. They looked like they were barely used before the previous owner disappeared. Loki saw no need to replace them.

Next they entered the library. The cavernous room was filled floor to ceiling with shelves full of books, trinkets, and artifacts. He scrutinized the carved mantle of the fireplace. It was the perfect spot to place his parent's ashes. He spied an old painting of a family portrait and wondered if this was the original family that built this place. Loki grinned at the sight of all the animal trophies, mostly from Africa. There were several stuffed gazelle heads, zebra heads, a warthog, and even an entire stuffed lion.

"Excellent," He beamed.

"This is my favorite room too," Mr. Gotz said.

"I couldn't have imagined a better man cave myself. My patrons will enjoy this room immensely," A chiming sound filled the quiet as Mr. Gotz received a text on his phone.

"Ah. Sorry to cut the tour short, but I am needed back at the office,"

"Thank you for sticking around. You didn't have to,"

"It was my pleasure young man. I wanted to get one last good look around this beautiful place. If you have any questions don't hesitate to call me,"

"I will," He said as Mr. Gotz turned to take his leave. Loki continued exploring the rest of the first floor. The dining room was large and the chandelier; while a touch too granny for Loki's taste did fit in with the rest of the home. The table was long enough to seat 12 people and was the same shade of dark cherry stain as the floor and trim. He left this room and walked down the narrow hall into a bright ballroom with marble floors.

"Yes! I can host weddings in here!" Loki chuckled as visions of large lavish parties filled his imagination. Jackpot! The large glass French doors opened up to the garden outside and Loki got a full view of the back breaking labor he would get to enjoy the following day.

"Dandelions and crab grass. Awesome," He muttered sarcastically. He turned and headed back to the sweeping staircase to continue his exploration.

The configuration of the top floor was odd. The first four bedrooms were easy to get to, but he had to go down a long corridor to get to the bedrooms on the other side. He put his hand on the door knob of the first room to find it was locked. The heavy key ring in his hand clanked as he went through each key until he found the right one and unlocked the door. He entered the room and reached for the light switch. He flipped it up and down a few times before he remembered that he still needed to get the power turned on. He walked over to the large window on the left and yanked the heavy drapes open to let in the light. The room was stunning. The bed was massive with tall bedposts and sheer white curtains. The wallpaper was a deep blue color and the wood trim was painted white. He felt like he was in Queen Antoinette's bedroom. Driving home this feeling, on the far wall, was a very large mirror. It was three people wide and reached almost floor to ceiling. He loved it. The furniture in this room must have been original to the property. Buying any of this new would cost a fortune. Loki knew that if the rest of the rooms in the mansion were this beautiful, he'd be able to open up for business within weeks instead of months.

He opened up the large wardrobe. It was not a walk in closet, but it would do. He noticed the door to the right. He opened it to find a bathroom. The light pouring in from the window was not enough to illuminate the bathroom properly. He decided it was time to fish his flashlight out of his satchel. Like the kitchen the bathroom was done in a classic black and white motif with subway tiles and a claw foot tub. It was timeless. He also found something unexpected; another large mirror identical to the bedroom mirror, and also another door which connected to the next bedroom.

He wanted to explore more, but put his flashlight away. The next room was an interior space and would not have a window in it. The window of the Antoinette room (he decided to call it that from then on) looked out onto the dead neglected garden. He headed back downstairs and out of the house to take care of the basics. Water, sewage, electricity, groceries and all the other mundane details that go with starting up a new hotel.

XxXxXxXxXx

The bed of Loki's truck was full when he returned from his shopping excursion. The Maywood General Store reminded him of a countrified Walmart Supercenter. Loki dragged the fertilizer to the rose bed and spent hours pulling weeds and digging in the dirt. It was a little late in the season but he might get some growth before winter hit. He'd at least have a head start on next year. He turned his head when he noticed the lights. Yes! The electricity had been turned on. He looked up to the second floor and noticed a stained glass window. It was situated in between the bedroom window of the Antoinette room and what must have been a bedroom on the other side.

He jaunted back into the mansion and turned his head to admire new details he could not see without electricity. He headed up the stairs and jogged down the hallway expecting to find a door leading to some middle room, but found none. He walked back and forth from end to end to approximate the middle. There should have been a door there but he only saw solid wall. She inspected the wood molding and noticed what appeared to be a poorly concealed crack in the wood filled in with wood caulking and buffed smooth. The wallpaper in that hallway looked more contemporary than the rest of the house. Loki huffed in aggravation. He didn't want to damage the wall just to satisfy his curiosity, and he would have to re-wallpaper the entire hallway if he did. He left the mystery alone at that moment. He had other priorities on which to focus.

Though the house appeared pristine he still needed to wash all the bedding and inventory each room for valuable items. An insurance appraiser would have to come out and give him an estimate. He noted that there were five more identical large mirrors on the top floor, a painting in the parlor and a grand portrait of a beautiful couple in the ballroom. The other bedrooms were just as magnificent as the Antoinette room but were different enough in their color and style to set them all apart. All of the upstairs bathrooms were set up in a Jack and Jill configuration between two bedrooms making them ideal for family rental. Loki was grateful for the modern basement apartment that the previous owner installed. The basement was large and had three industrial sized washers and dryers in a grand mud room with a large table. Closed off from the rest of the house was his personal living space complete with its own small kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms.

His first night in his new home and business was bittersweet. When he stopped moving he felt alone and isolated like a lady in Victorian era England or a princess in her private castle. If only the house had a tower. His mind drifted as the darkness took him into slumber and Loki dreamed of things he didn't understand.

 _Mwanawa cowered in the corner of her hut as she listened for the hushed voices and shuffled feet of the men outside. She knew these men. They were the men of her village. Her brother was among them. She tried to hide that she had birthed an albino child from the other villagers, but word spread and the local witch doctor had put up a bounty for her baby's bones. Wealthy white men came to her country to hunt the big game there. They brought with them big guns and much money which the witch doctor intended to reap from the foreigners by selling them an amulet made from rare magical ingredients. This amulet would bless the hunters with prosperity and good fortune. Mwanawa cradled her child, grabbed her knap sack and ran._

 _Mwanawa ducked out a hole in the back of her hut and ran down the animal trails she'd traveled since childhood to a destination beyond all she knew. She had no plan beyond running into the bush; into the wilderness in the hope her child might survive the night. She was snatched from behind mere yards away from her hut._

 _"No! No my baby! My baby please!" she wailed, kicked, and cried as the tears streamed down her face. Her infant was ripped from her arms. The baby screamed as it is tossed to the ground. A machete gleamed in the fire light as it was raised into the air and brought down onto the screaming bundle below._


	2. Chapter 2

Loki woke up in a cold sweat. "Jesus," He muttered.

He hopped out of bed and went to his private little kitchen to make a cup of bad instant coffee. He still needed to buy a coffee maker and a couple of other little luxuries. The image of the albino child made him think of his mother. She'd had the most amazing ice white hair and milky white skin. Her eyes had always been problematic. Loki remembered her always wearing different colored contact lenses. She always looked stunning with blue eyes.

He tried to shake off the nightmare. Though the events in the dream made no sense to Loki, he could tell it was all about his mother. He texted his friend Emily for comfort as he plopped down in front of his laptop to pull up familiar footage from his hard drive. The grainy crappy video made by rewinding and recording over the same VHS (in digital age no less!) over and over again was the worst quality surveillance possible. A hooded man, barely in frame walked up behind his parents as a train approached and shoved them in front of it. His blood pounded in his ears as the hooded man ran by an old man wearing coke bottle glasses and his hunched-back wife, who clung to a walker for support.

"God will give me justice," Loki's blood boiled in his veins.

He got up and forced himself to shower and dress. On days like this one, when he wanted to wallow and get drunk he tried to do the opposite. He could shut down if he let himself. It had been 5 years since the murders and Loki was only 22 years old. A whistle from Loki's phone alerted him to an incoming message.

Emily Text: {What's up?}

Loki Text: {Bad dream}

{Because of the house?}

{IDK. Probably. R u coming to my open house? Think I can have this place ready in about a month.}

{Hell yeah! I miss you.}

{Miss u 2. Text me your pic. Don't know what u look like anymore.}

{Nope, sorry. You have to wait.}

{Damn u! Do u really look that different?}

{I grew my hair out and dyed it, not that you'd notice!}

{Talk to u later}

{Talk to you later}

{Bi ;) }

{Bye }

Loki got up, feeling much better. He spent the remainder of his week teetering on flimsy ladders installing new smoke detectors, or on his hands and knees scrubbing something more than was necessary. Thanks to his education he constructed his business website without assistance. He sent out an email invitation to the Starks to come out to the country to visit him in his new home the following Saturday.

XxXxXxXxXx

The black town car came rolling up the driveway quietly. Daniel pressed the horn to declare his arrival. Daniel Stark, his sister Emily, and their parents Tony and Pepper Stark clambered out of the car after a five hour car ride from New York City. Loki's heart pounded in his chest as he rushed out the front door.

Daniel had grown, or perhaps he was standing taller? Gone was the zit faced, brace faced nerd. Before him stood a man, no longer scrawny but lithe. His thin arms possessed definition. His chest was broader, and his confident smile beamed at him. Loki's jaw dropped at the sight of him.

"Oh my God! Daniel!" Loki ran to his friend feeling excitement and sudden nervousness.

His hands grazed his toned back as his stomach pressed against his, feeling the hard definition beneath the cotton shirt. He smelled like sandalwood and spice. Loki pulled back from the embrace to look at him. His beautiful brown hair was longer than he remembered, coming to about his chin. Loki felt discomfort then as he gazed into the oblivious eyes of his heterosexual object of desire. He pulled away completely then.

Tony, Pepper, and Emily each leaned in for their hug, breaking the tension. "Well, come on in and look at the house!" Loki said.

"Oh wow, this place is amazing," Mr. Stark commented as he examined the exterior. "I'm glad to see you diversified your investments," his Wall Street colors showed.

"Loki honey, I'm so proud of you. This house is beautiful. How much did you say you paid for it?" Pepper asked.

"A little over half a million," Loki said.

"But how much is it worth? What did the appraiser say?" Mr. Stark asked.

"He said about $2.65 million if I was able to find the right buyer, but that could be tricky given the location. Maywood is not a big draw for city types unless they are looking for a vacation home in the country," Loki said.

"You mean Mayberry, not Maywood. I think I saw Opie fishing in a pond on the way here." Emily said as she sucked on her Blow-pop like a child.

"Maywood is not that bad." Loki defended.

"Yes it is." Emily retorted. She stopped still and looked up at the grand ceilings and opulent surroundings. "You lucky bitch!"

"Emily! Language!" Pepper admonished her daughter. Mr. Stark gave a low whistle as he examined the inside.

"If you like this you're going to love the library," Loki said to Daniel and Mr. Cooper.

"The library?" Daniel quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Trust me." He said. "Go. Scatter. Explore the house while I make dinner. I know your butts are sore from the drive."

Daniel and his father took off down the hall admiring the bannister and dark stained wainscoting.

"Dad! Look at this!" Daniel said, summoning his father into the library.

The men grinned at each other as they picked up and examined all the little trinkets in the room. Daniel spun a globe that was made of ivory, mother of pearl, and other rare materials. Mr. Stark ogled an African hunting spear that was mounted on the wall opposite the fire place. Daniel moved on to the stuffed lion and petted its head like it was a house cat. His grin fell from his face, however, when he noticed the urns on the mantle. Loki had placed his parent's ashes there. Mr. Stark's smile disappeared as well. They quickly looked away to find other things to admire.

"This is a strange looking paperweight." Mr. Stark picked up the glass object from off the desk to inspect it. It was a perfectly spherical orb, hollowed out with several items inside. A cap had been cut off and then reattached with gold. It was about the same size and weight of a medicine ball. The glass was full of imperfections and bubbles and looked reminiscent of a heavy homemade Christmas tree ornament. Mr. Stark held the orb up to his eye to better peer at its contents. Inside he could make out bits of silver, obsidian, a rusty nail, bits of broken mirror, herbs of some sort, and what appeared to be bones.

"Hey dad, you coming?" Daniel yanked Mr. Stark from his obsessive gazing. Mr. Stark palmed the item back and forth between hands as if he was hesitant to leave it behind.

"Ah…yeah. Sure." He put the item back on the desk with a longing expression before leaving.

After about 30 minutes of listening to footsteps all around the house the Starks reconvened back in the kitchen with Loki.

"Holy shit this place is cool!" Emily exclaimed. "I call dibs on the first bedroom!"

"It's official. I'm living here. I'm putting a cot in the library and never coming out." Mr. Stark said.

"Me too." Daniel said.

"Mmmm. Is that salmon?" Pepper asked.

"Yes." Loki said.

"Is anyone else coming?" Daniel asked.

"Unfortunately no. All of my college friends are busy either working or looking for work. None of them could make it out here this weekend. It's just us." He lied.

"Loki we are really proud of you. I think this bed and breakfast is a wonderful idea, but we worry about you. You don't know anybody in this town and you're going to be lonely. Why didn't you come back to live in the city?" Pepper asked.

"I'm afraid to ride the subway." Loki said quietly as his eyes glazed over with wetness. On instinct, Emily walked to him and pulled him to her chest. The anniversary of his parent's murders was in four days. Emily's breath hitched and her skin tingled. She'd never felt like this around Loki when he was living with the family. Somehow, Loki had managed to escape her friend zone. The air felt heavy in her lungs and she had to suppress her desire nuzzle his neck.

"Thank you Emily." He said shaking. They all took their seats and started eating their meal. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Mr. Stark broke it by broaching a business topic.

"Have you hired the cleaning crew for this place yet?" Mr. Stark asked.

"Not yet. After next week, and then I'll start taking reservations." He said.

"How are you managing your money? Do you need any advice?" Mr. Stark asked.

"It's doing fine. I have it in an unmanaged index fund," Loki said.

"Good boy. I know young people your age that would've spent all that already." Mr. Stark said.

"Like Emily." Daniel added.

"Shut up. I would not!" Emily said. "Just because I have a life and don't bury my head in books all the time doesn't mean I don't know how to manage money." Emily shot back.

"You blew $500 on a purse." Daniel said.

"So? It's New York City. I wouldn't be caught dead in a faux anything." Emily said. "And you. You and I are getting drunk tonight." She said to Loki.

"I don't need-"

"Yes you do. You never cut loose. Tonight you, me, and my $500 purse full of beauty shit are going to have some fucking fun." Emily announced. Pepper rolled her eyes at her daughter's filthy mouth.

"Emily!" Mr. Stark scowled. "I'm glad you don't cut loose Loki. Given everything you've suffered it would have been bad for you. Most of Emily's friends have had abortions, are addicted to drugs, and have dropped out of college and none of them have the excuse that you could've used." Mr. Stark gives Emily the evil eye. She's been getting C's and D's at school.

"Thank you Mr. Stark. I wasn't much better before my parents died. I was going to end up a drug addicted drop out too. My parents always had such high standards that I felt were impossible to meet. I just want to make them proud."

"You are. Your dad would be thrilled to see you now. He and I managed a lot of inheritance accounts over the years, and in many cases the money evaporated after just a few years." Tony said giving his daughter Emily a pointed look. She frowned back.

"I'm full." Pepper said. "Loki that was delicious. I am anxious to see which room you put us in."

"Well Emily called dibs on the blue room. I think I'll put you in the yellow room, and Daniel in the silver room." Loki said. After cleaning up the dinner dishes the entire group headed up stairs to take up residence in their assigned rooms.

"I think we'll be comfortable here," Pepper said with a smile.

"Very comfortable," Mr. Stark said as he wrapped his arms around Pepper's waist and nuzzled her neck. Pepper giggled.

"Ew," Emily and Daniel said in unison.

"Old people shouldn't have sex," Emily said.

"You'll be sharing a bathroom with Daniel, which joins both of your rooms together," Loki explained.

"Yeah so lock the bathroom door if you two plan on having sex in there," Daniel said. Mr. Stark chuckled.

"You know what, I think we might." Mr. Stark said hoping to further horrify his son. Daniel made a face.

"Come on Mrs. Crypt Keeper, time to rattle your bones." He tugged his wife into the bedroom and slammed the door.

"Anyway…Daniel, your room is over here." Loki guided him as Emily followed. Daniel's room was only one of two bedrooms that did not have one of the large mirrors and was not as large or deep in dimensions. Loki suspected this was due to whatever was hidden behind the wall.

"This room is cool. I'll take it." Daniel said, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Loki. Loki blushed yet again as undignified fantasies of begging Danny to ravish him flashed in his head.

"Well, good night."

"Night Loki." Daniel said with a warm smile. Loki made an abrupt turn and left.

"Night Danny….Oh Danny…please pop my black cherry!" Emily mocked Loki as they walked down to the Antoinette room. Loki's blush deepened. "Okay, where do you keep the booze?" Emily asked.

"I haven't bought any."

"God you suck! Thankfully, I had the foresight to pinch some of dad's private stash before we left. Come on. Let's get drunk and try to paint each other's nails."

"Paint my nails? You do realize I am of the male gender?"

"You're gay. Being gay covers a multitude of sins."

"I'm pretty sure you have that backwards." Loki chuckled.

"So are you really still a virgin, because you act like it." Emily asked.

"I'm not exactly a virgin. I mean I have done things, with girls." Loki said.

"Ah huh, and what about with boys?"

"I've kissed a few men."

"Christ Loki! Didn't you do any sexual exploration while you were in college?"

"I was busy working myself to death and avoiding all the drunken frat boys, but I did eventually figure out that I am gay."

"Yeah like two months ago! Wish you'd stayed clueless a little while longer. I'd very much like to pluck your flower." Emily said as she painted a crooked line on Loki's thumbnail in glittery black.

"But I have the feeling that you want to fuck someone else in this house." Loki's breath caught and his body flushed. "So why don't you try to meet someone? You keep making googley eyes at my brother, and you haven't got a chance there. He likes girls way too much. What's the hold up?" Emily asked.

"Timing mostly. I've spent the last few years in mourning, buried in books to escape. It was only this past year that I sat down and took the time to think about who I am and what I want. After my parent's deaths, I knew I couldn't ever return to the city. It is haunted for me now. He's still out there, the criminal that got away. He hasn't been punished and probably never will be. My sex life seems trivial by comparison, though my needs have been roaring to the surface of late. After masturbating over and over again to the mental image of Brad Pitt I had to admit to myself that I might be of the homosexual variety." Loki confessed. Emily got a wicked smile on her lips then and climbed up into Loki's lap to give him a lap dance. "What are you do-"

"Give it to me baby! Ah huh… ah huh! And all the guys say I'm pretty fly for a gay guy!" Emily sang as she shook her breasts in Loki's face. Loki chuckled as he tried to push his friend away. He can tell Emily has developed lustful feelings towards him. Though she is not what he finds attractive, he may at some point give in to a one time sex romp, just not tonight.

"Keep that up and I'll tuck a dollar in your underwear." Loki said.

"Only a dollar? I deserve at least a hundred. You can afford it money bags."

"Do you think Daniel knows I'm gay?" Loki asked.

"I don't think he does. He's not very observant."

"The night my parents died I almost gave it away to Penny Pooler." Loki whispered.

"EW! Penny Pooper! It's official, your parent's death was divine intervention." Emily said trying to lighten the mood. However Loki's laughter quickly turns to tears as he buries his face in his friend's lap. Emily strokes his hair awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Honey I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Emily said softly.

"I'm so lonely Emily. I lied when I said my college friends couldn't make it. I don't have any. I spent my four years at college with a big 'FUCK YOU' stenciled on my forehead. I want Daniel but he prefers females. I really just want to have sex with a man, but I'm nervous. It's getting to the point that I'm thinking about it all the time."

"If you're waiting for a fairytale fucking, forget it. My first time sucked. He didn't know what he was doing, I didn't know what I was doing, and it hurt."

"Did you love him?"

"What's that got to do with it? Just go down the hall and molest my brother." Emily said, not being serious. Loki laughed.

"With your parents in the next room? I don't think so."

"Oh come on, please! The look on their faces would be priceless."

"Yeah….No. There's something else you can help me with though."

"Hmmm?"

"Emily….I need you to help me throw my laptop away."

"Why? What's on it?" Emily asked.

"The footage of the subway." Loki said.

"Can't we just delete the file?"

"You know me. I'll just find a way to recover it again. I look at it every day. I feel like I'm rotting inside."

"Loki, are you sure you're really ready to take on the big hassle of running this place? You sound burnt out and ready to pop."

"Working makes me feel better. When I'm busy I don't have time to think about what happened. When I'm alone with nothing to do, that's when things get scary." Loki said. The wind picked up outside then and the sound of tree branches and rain tapping on the window broke them out of their melancholy. The sound of a gust of air and a squeaky hinge turning disturbed their sanctuary. They both looked and noticed the giant mirror on the wall was slightly off-kilter. Whistling wind could be heard pouring in through some unseen crack in the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

They both stood, their skin goose bumped from something other than cold. Loki walked slightly ahead of Emily, ever the gallant man protecting the lady from danger.

"What the fuck?" Emily said as she inspected it. "There's something behind this." Emily pushed the mirror and the whole thing spun from the center towards the right. "Holy shit! There's another room back here!" Emily said. Far from being a dark secret passage way the space was lit with the same style light bulbs and wall sconces that proliferated the rest of the house. They stepped over the lip into the narrow hallway which had a small room at each end. The hallway was filled with paintings just as large as each mirror. Loki looked at the spacing of each of them and realized that they were the backside of each mirror in each room. All eight bedrooms were interconnected through the mirrors and bathrooms.

"Oh my. Emily, we could break into your Mom and Dad's room and none of them would know how we did it." Loki said as a concern crept into his heart.

"This is cool!"

"This is bad! Emily this is a security problem. What if one of my guests figures this out and sneaks into one of the other guest rooms and violates somebody?" Loki said.

"Oh for fuck sake! Can't you just enjoy the moment? Come on, you can spy on my brother. If you're lucky you can catch him rubbing one out and mount him." Emily said. Loki shook his head as he stared at the 20 year old. They walked past a couple of paintings before noticing their content.

"Emily, look at this," Loki said. "Isn't this beautiful?"

"Eh. It's fruit," Emily said.

Loki frowned. Why do New Yorkers have to be so damned jaded? The painting was masterfully done. It was a still life of a feast of sorts, except that the chair was empty as was the main serving tray where the remnants of some sort of roasted beast could be seen. The main serving platter had meat juices and bits of flesh and a lot of garnish around the edge. They moved on to the next one, this one a painting of a bank vault based on all the gold coins piled high. It was the last painting on that side of the hallway.

"We should totally bust through this mirror and scare the shit out of Daniel." Emily said with glee.

"But that's not Daniel's room. That's your parent's room. Daniel's room is on the end and it doesn't have a mirror. See, this open space here, this is why Daniel's room and the corresponding opposite room are so much shallower than the others." Loki said as he gestured to the inner sanctum in which he entered. It was a small hidden circular room that led down the hallway full of paintings and at the end was the stained glass window. In the center of the chamber was a pedestal, empty of whatever was supposed to be there. Behind Loki was the secret door that had been plastered and wallpapered over. The room was designed to be entered through the main hallway of the upstairs floor, into the chamber and then to walk down the secret hallway of paintings to the stained glass window on the end.

The window was a simple sky scene depicting heaven and a golden sun shining down on a green meadow. It was uplifting like the windows at church, reminding Loki that God was always watching.

"This is beautiful. I love this bench in front." Loki said as he took a seat on the stone bench to admire the window. It will look even better during the light of day shining in from outside. Emily regarded the window for a moment.

"It's okay. I like the mirrors better," Emily said.

"That's because you like being sneaky," Loki said.

Something about the layout of this room made sense to Loki then. Getting to the window meant passing by all the paintings/mirrors, offering multiple ways out. There were four mirrors on one side and three on the other, seven in total.

Loki walked back down the hallway to look at the paintings again. Each had a different color theme that Loki noticed matched the color theme to which the painting was connected. The feast scene had a dominating orange color. The yellow painting, the room Emily's parents were sleeping in, had gold and money in the painting. On the opposite wall was a red themed painting depicting a sword and a vacant spot where there should be the missing subject matter. A green themed painting depicted a ladies' vanity seat complete with mirror, hair brush, and powder. The painting behind the Antoinette room depicted a bed, not made neatly but appearing slept in. Wet pools of sweaty spend were evident in the middle of the bed, though the lovers that created it were missing from the painting. Across the way from the Antoinette room was another blue painting, lighter in color showing stacks of books, plates, and trinkets piled high and teetering. Lastly was the one belonging to the sole bathroom that had a mirror. The painting depicted a field of purple flowers. The room had one way in but many ways out and only the straight and narrow path lead to God.

"I like this room." Loki said.

XxXxXxXxXx

"You guys are not going to believe what we found last night!" Emily chirped at the breakfast table. Loki was serving up Crab Benedict for breakfast.

"There's a chapel in the middle of the house upstairs." Loki said.

"What do you mean upstairs?" Mr. Stark asked in a surly tone. Loki noticed his furrowed brow and quiet demeanor when he came downstairs.

"Upstairs between the bedrooms, there is a secret hallway and a secret room. Almost all the bedrooms are connected to it. The mirrors are doors." Emily said. Mr. Stark choked on his orange juice then, causing some of it to trickle out of his nose. Mrs. Stark looked horrified.

"You were spying on us?" Mr. Stark asked clearly agitated.

"No Mr. Stark." Loki said.

"We have no interest in listening to you two have sex." Emily added.

"You weren't spying on me were you?" Daniel asked.

"You don't have a mirror in your room Daniel, so no." Loki said to calm him. Daniel held back a loud sigh.

"Loki those mirrors are a safety hazard and a legal liability. You have to seal them off. If any of your guests or cleaning staff discovered that hallway they could steal from your other guests or do other bad things." Mr. Stark warned.

"I realized that Mr. Stark. I will figure out something." Loki said.

"Have you heard from Detective Thompson about your parent's case lately?" Mr. Stark asked out of the blue. His face looked like it was carved from stone and Loki was confused by it.

"No Mr. Stark. I suspect he'll call tomorrow. He never did forget my case. He always calls to check on me and let me know if there is any progress, and even if there isn't." Loki said. Mr. Stark relaxed marginally at that. His eyes followed Loki for the rest of breakfast and he noticed an uneasy tension coming from both him and Mrs. Stark.

"So what are we going to do today?" Daniel asked Loki.

"I was thinking we could explore the meadow and the creek out back and then you guys could give me some wedding reception ideas." Loki felt grateful for the change in subject. He smiled at Daniel as he polished off his orange juice.

Beyond the garden in back there was an overgrown meadow filled with wildflowers and tall grasses and beyond that a tree line. Cutting down the middle of it was a little creek that fed into a large pond further down the road. A light breeze whipped around the fabric of Emily's dress.

"This is odd." Pepper bent over to inspect the ground.

"What did you find?" Mr. Stark asked.

"There is a line of broken mirror pieces here at the tree line." Everyone bent over to examine the ground with her. There was a very thin but distinct line of pulverized mirror pieces that appeared to stretch a great distance.

"Let's follow it." Daniel said. As they explored the grounds they noticed that the mirror line was curving. By the time they were on the other side of the house in back it became plain to them that the line formed a circle around the edge of the property.

"This is weird." Mr. Stark said.

"It's Hicksville. I'm surprised we haven't heard dueling banjos yet." Emily retorted. Loki did find it strange but did not linger on this strange detail; he was more concerned with where the wedding gazebo should go.

"What do you guys think about this spot?" He asked.

"It's a lovely spot; just make sure to mow the grass first." Pepper said.

#

"Do you want help making lunch?" Pepper asked when they returned to the house after exploring the grounds all morning.

"No, no. I'll be doing this full time and I need to get used to this. Besides I want to try out some recipes on you that I'll be serving my guests. I'm making Shrimp and Grits."

"Mmm. Sounds fattening."

"It is."

"You sure you don't want help?" Pepper offered again, but Loki just shook his head.

"Well alright. I think I'll join everybody in the parlor and watch some T.V." Loki thought about the strange layout of the house as he lingered over the stove. Everything about this house was odd. He wondered how it was possible that an entire town could ignore such a grand estate for the better part of a century? Why is that hallway there upstairs? What happened to the original owners?

For some reason then, Loki thought about his mother. His father had loved her so much. He used to find their constant touching and affection disgusting. Looking back on how they treated each other Loki discovered he hoped to find a love just like that. His mother had always been a striking woman with her albino skin. He inherited his tall slender frame from her. Even as they were falling in front of the train his father had tried to shield her from the oncoming impact.

Their bodies had been too mangled for an open casket burial and in fact, had been smeared together by the wheels of the train. For that reason, Loki had opted to cremate them. Loki touched his hand to the hidden locket dangling around his neck. He always wore it and kept it tucked in under his shirt. In it was a small lock of his mother's blood soaked hair. For him, it was a personal talisman of love and protection and a constant reminder of the evil that men do.

After the meal Loki spent time with Pepper discussing table linens, wedding decorations, and various booking gimmicks to boost reservations. By the time night came Loki felt emotionally and physically exhausted and ready for sleep. Tomorrow the Starks would drive back to the city and Loki would be alone again.

 _"_ _ _Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude but what are you doing in my home?" The blonde man said. He was tall, muscular, with the most intense blue eyes Loki had ever seen.__

 _"_ _ _This is my home."__

 _"_ _ _Are you an angel?"__

 _"_ _ _No."__

 _"_ _ _The mirror tells me otherwise."__

 _ _Loki noticed he was in a bedroom that was not part of the house. It was not one of the eight upper bedrooms or either of the two basement bedrooms of his apartment. It did look familiar however. Then he recognized the bed. It was from the painting upstairs. The cover and sheets were twisted up exactly like the painting and the large wet spot in the middle smelled of sex.__

 _"_ _ _Whose room is this?"__

 _"_ _ _Ours."__

 _ _Loki was on the bed naked and he was on top of him. He felt his body sing with pleasure as the sound of heavy breathing, skin slapping, and moans of pleasure filled his ears. The blonde man smiled at him kindly.__

 _"_ _ _I've been waiting for you."__


	4. Chapter 4

Loki woke up to the sensation of his orgasm thrumming through his body.

"Holy shit!" He panted. "Why can't I have more dreams like that?" Loki was grateful in that moment that there was an entire floor separating him from the Starks. He was pretty certain he'd been moaning in his sleep and God help him if Emily had heard it; or Daniel for that matter.

It was early, about 5:00 a.m. Loki smiled at his accomplishment of waking early without an alarm. Rising early is a part of life in the Bed and Breakfast business. He got up, made himself a cup of coffee and listened to the morning news, all while sporting a very large smile on his face. When he heard the floor creak upstairs he pulled out the pots and pans and began making breakfast. One by one the Starks came down the stairs.

"Good morning everyone." Loki said. Mr. Stark groaned as he stretched and cracked his back. The bed was comfortable but he was getting old and was not looking forward to the long drive back home.

"What's for breakfast today?" Emily asked.

"Just pancakes, bacon, and eggs," Loki said.

"That's plenty. You're guests are going to be fat when they leave here," Pepper said.

"I wanted to feed all of you properly before the long drive,"

"I'm going to miss this place. The bathtubs alone make me want to stay here forever," Pepper said.

"Well, I want all of you to visit me again. Maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas? We could make it a tradition," Loki said.

"We'd like that," Mr. Stark said. "You know Loki, if you decide one day that this isn't for you, your old room is still available,"

"Thank you for saying so, but even if this business venture ends up an utter failure I think moving back in with you would not be necessary. I'll still have plenty of cushion to support myself,"

"It's not about money Loki," Emily said.

"I know, but I'm a man now and I need to stand on my two feet in all aspects of my life,"

"You'll do just fine," Mr. Stark gripped Loki's shoulder in a show of support.

After breakfast the Starks packed up their things and loaded back into the car. Though their departure saddened him, he also felt uplifted with the knowledge that his home would soon be filled with new people from all walks of life. Looking to the future was an uplifting activity.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki filed into the pew next to a row of strangers. Loki kept an amused smile on his face, clutching his catholic rosary as he read the program for the only church in town, which was Lutheran. Everyone in the church looked at him with curiosity. The people in town had all heard about the handsome wealthy young man that had purchased the Maywood Estate.

Reverend McDowell was a short stocky ginger man whose eyes were too close together and whose nose was too big for his small face. However, despite his lack of outward beauty Loki felt immediately drawn to his inner beauty, for he had that in abundance.

"Today….we are going to talk about forgiveness." Reverend McDowell began. The church was small and hot as the people fanned themselves with their programs. Loki listened and thought about the man that killed his parents. He wondered if he ever could, ever would forgive. It was a dead weight crushing his chest that he wanted to let go. His fantasies of revenge were always at least a little satisfying. Loki had imagined the things he would do to the murderer. He could practically smell the blood and hear the flesh being crushed as the man was slowly pressed to death between two boards and the weight of hundreds of heavy rocks as they were added one by one.

Suddenly everyone was standing around him so he stood too. He followed along and sang a hymn. At one point the Reverend encouraged everyone to reach out and shake hands with someone they did not know. Loki was swarmed immediately. Quick greetings were made as Loki gave his name to several people who introduced themselves. They all smiled a little too broadly as they looked him up and down. When the service ended Loki lingered behind to speak with the reverend alone.

"Well hello there," The reverend said.

"Loki Laufeyson. I'm new in town," Loki shook the man's hand.

"So I heard. What brings you to our little town?"

"A business venture. I'm going to turn the Maywood Estate into a bed and breakfast. I was wondering if you'd post these flyers on your bulletin board for the church. I need to hire a housemaid, and a gardener. In fact, I wouldn't mind hiring the entire local football team to clean up the grounds of the manor,"

"I've seen those fields. You have your work cut out for you,"

"Yes, well I am forced to admit it is more than I can handle by myself. Are there any young ladies in town you would recommend to hire for the cleaning position?"

"I know a couple that would be grateful for the pay. They're dependable good girls that will work hard and show up on time,"

"That is wonderful. Please give them my number and have them contact me for an interview,"

"I will. So will I be seeing your face here at church on a regular basis?"

"Well, I am catholic, but the nearest church is 45 minutes away and this place would appear to be the social hub of the community. I'll have to think on it," Loki said. Really he wouldn't care about this little detail, but his mother was a devout catholic, and for her he keeps the faith.

"Well if you decide to become a member of our church, we welcome you,"

"Thank you Reverend. May I ask you something?"

"Yes of course,"

"Your sermon today, about forgiveness, have you ever been wronged?"

"Of course, but I suspect you are referring to something of great magnitude,"

"My parents were murdered 5 years ago. It was just before the start of my senior year of high school. They were shoved in front of an oncoming subway train and were killed instantly. To this day I still do not know why,"

"My condolences. That is a horrific thing to endure, but also all the more reason to heed my sermon,"

"There are things that I would do….unchristian things, if given the opportunity," He said.

"And would those things make you feel better?"

"Yes. Revenge feels good, and I want him to suffer,"

"Because you have suffered,"

"Yes,"

"Has carrying around this anger and hatred made you feel better? Made you feel good?" The Reverend asked.

"No," Loki choked back tears.

"Then let it go. Not for their sake, but for yours. For the preservation of your soul, let it go," He said.

"I don't think I can," Loki felt a tear roll down his cheek and wiped it away.

"Maybe not yet; but you are here for a reason and that time is coming soon for you. Forgive yourself for inflicting this punishment upon your heart. You will be ready when the time comes to offer that forgiveness to another," He said.

"Thank you Reverend."

XxXxXxXxXx

Victoria Albright squinted at the house as she approached it. It was beautiful on the outside, she had to admit but she still didn't like having to drive for hours to reach this place in the country when a grand hotel in the city had all the luxuries she liked. She wouldn't complain to her friends about this, however. They are the ones that wanted to come here to 'cheer' her up.

"Momma, I'm hungry." Joseph squeaked like a little mouse.

"Shut up! Must you whine constantly?"

Victoria sneered at the boy. She was well practiced in faking affection for him when she was around her friends. Her late husband had wanted to adopt when their attempts to conceive failed. That was a little over a year ago. Her husband died only 6 months after the adoption and she was saddled with Joseph. She'd only agreed to take in the boy because all of her friends had children and she was on the outs socially. Now she's a single mother. What powerful wealthy man wants to marry a single mother in her early 40's?

Four cars pulled up into the drive way and a tall beautiful young man stood at the ready to receive them. Victoria frowned as her friend's children went running into the house squealing with delight. Her son followed them, copying their example. She took his hand and tugged it hard to let him know her displeasure.

Getting checked in was chaotic as it appeared that the handsome young man was the only person available to help them with their luggage. With seven adults and five children, most of them had to carry their own things a flight of tall stairs. Once again Victoria questioned the appeal of a humble Bed & Breakfast hotel. The children all pointed at all the interesting paintings, stuffed animals, and pretty wall paper. All except Victoria's son Joseph who was meek and quiet, trying to be invisible.

"Here you are madam." Loki handed her the key.

"How quaint." She eyed the heavy wrought iron key. Her friends all appeared to love this detail about this place but to her she felt it was one more example of how this place was lacking.

"And here is the other key to your son's room. Both of your rooms are connected through the bathroom, which you will share. If you have need of anything let me know. I hope you enjoy your stay," Loki said cordially.

"Thank you," She said curtly. She closed the door to her room and began to unpack her bags as Joseph stood fidgeting and bored.

"Momma can we eat soon?" Victoria walked over and slapped him.

"Filthy little beggar. We'll eat when I say it is time and not before." She went back to unpacking their things as Joseph stifled his cry to keep silent. She'd trained him well. A knock at the door distracted her. It was her friends.

"Isn't this place amazing! And we have it all to ourselves." Linda said.

"Oh, Vicki your room is gorgeous. Look at this beautiful lavender theme." June said.

"All the rooms are different colors. Mine is orange, which sounds hideous but it is very tastefully done." Linda says.

"I can't wait to tell our friends at the country club about this little gem. I've already taken a couple dozen pictures with my phone." Mary said.

"I think my niece should consider this place for her wedding. It's intimate, remote, and will cost far less than any of the venues in the city. She could have the reception downstairs and the honeymoon right here." June said.

"What about the church?" Linda asked.

"There is a church in town. We can check it out and see if it is large enough." June said.

"Or the ceremony can be held outside if it is nice enough." Mary added.

"What about the rest of the guests though? Where will they stay once the party is over? This place isn't large enough to house all of them." Victoria pointed out.

"Oh yeah, well… there is that large chain hotel ten miles up the freeway." June said.

"That might work. Hey, let's take the children out back and the explore gardens. I think I saw a creek back there." Mary said.

"Where are your husbands?" Victoria asked.

"Oh, they are all in the library and they don't want to leave." Linda said. "It's filled floor to ceiling with dead animal heads and fur rugs." The women giggled.

XxXxXxXx

Joseph sobbed when the lights went out in his giant scary red room. Momma never lets him cuddle with her. He misses daddy. His new daddy had been very nice before he died. He should have pressed the numbers on the phone just like policeman at his daycare had taught him to do when bad things happen. He should have known daddy was sick when he lied down on the floor to sleep. Momma doesn't love him, not like daddy did.

"Haha haha." A child's giggle came in the dark.

"Tommy is that you?" Joseph sat up in bed, scared that monsters were going to get him. "You guys are going to get me in trouble. My mommy will be mad at me!"

"Stay in bed Joseph." A frightened woman's voice instructed. A light came from around the seams of the mirror on the wall and it swung open, revealing a bright green meadow filled with purple flows and the most beautiful horsey Joseph had ever seen. Joseph climbed out of his giant bed and walked to the opening.

"Pretty flowers!" Joseph smiled.

"Hello!" A little boy jumped up in front of Joseph. The boy was pure white, except for his eyes which were red. "Come play with us."

"No Joseph! Stay away from the mirror!" The disembodied voice warned again.

"I better not. My mommy will get mad at me." Joseph's little five year old voice trembled.

"GET BACK IN BED!" The ghostly female voice yelled. The albino boy growled at Joseph then, bearing teeth that looked like animal fangs. His boney white hand reached out to grab Joseph and the hand print seared an imprint onto Joseph's wrist. Joseph screamed.

"What are you doing?" Victoria clicked on the light and yelled at Joseph.

"Mommy! There was a scary boy in the wall and he tried to eat me!" Joseph ran and hugged Victoria's legs for comfort.

"You woke me up you little liar! Get back in bed or I'll beat you!" She snarled at him.

"No Mommy please!" Victoria backhanded him and the boy crawled away back into bed pulling the covers over his head. Victoria shut the door to the bathroom and went back to her room.

"Little brat. Ruined a perfectly good dream. I was in a meadow with flowers and a horse you selfish little shit."

XxXxXxXx

Loki smiled as he cooked up chocolate chip pancakes for the kids and served up smoke salmon, cream cheese and bagels for the adults. Orange juice and coffee was abundant and he poached up a dozen eggs for good measure as well, serving them with hollandaise sauce.

"You're a good cook kid." Mr. Cohen complimented him as he stuffed another forkful of eggs into his face.

"Thank you. I taught myself while at college. I even worked at a diner for a few months to learn some of my skills."

"It shows. The food is delectable and you have impeccable taste. This place is beautifully decorated. I must have instagramed at least a hundred photos to my friends yesterday." Linda Cohen said.

"Yes, and I thank you for that. I already have more reservations on the books because of that." Loki was pleased at how well his first night as a host went. He liked these people for the most part, except for that Victoria woman. She's cold as ice to everyone except her friends.

Joseph reached across the table to get more orange juice and knocked over his mother's coffee. The hot liquid spilled all over the table cloth and burned the poor boy's hand.

"I'm sorry Momma!" The boy yelled in terror.

"It's alright little man, I can clean that-" Loki started.

"You filthy little beast!" Victoria growled. She jumped to her feet and grabbed little Joseph and wrapped her hands around his throat shaking him violently. For a split second everyone was too stunned to move as the woman began choking the life out of the innocent child.

"Victoria! Victoria let go!" June screamed in horror, but Victoria would not listen. The other adults around her swarmed her to make her stop but he ran out of the dining room and then the front door heading straight for the road. The others gave chase.

"Fucking little monster! I hate you! You burdensome little bastard!" She continued to punch, slap, scratch, and abuse the boy as her friends pulled her off him. The commotion of her madness was so distracting no one saw the car approaching.

Jimmy Warner came round the curve in the road admiring the purple wildflowers in the pasture across from the Maywood Estate. His fully restored candy apple red Mustang was his pride and joy. So distracted was he by the bounty of nature that he did not notice the woman that ran directly in front of his car.


	5. Chapter 5

"I knew she was fucking off. She's a stone cold bitch, or was." Mr. Cohen said.

"She was just depressed because her husband died. It drove her crazy. That's all." Linda tried to defend her friend.

"Linda honey, you can't tell me you haven't noticed the way she treats him. She never let Joseph sleep over and he's really skinny." June said.

"What? Like she was starving him?" Linda asked.

"Folks, I think we are all done here." The police officer said. He finished his interrogation of all the people present. Sadly, the woman's death was the easy part of the investigation, but the child abuse had torn his heart open.

"What about Joseph?" Mary's husband asked.

"He is being remanded into the local child protective services pending further investigation."

"But this is a small town in a rural county. Where is he sleeping tonight?" Linda asked.

"At my home actually. My wife is on the way to pick him up. I'm sort of the fall back foster parent for the town. Pretty much every troubled kid in Maywood has stayed under my roof at some point."

"That's very noble of you. Is Joseph okay? I mean is he hurt?" Mary asked.

"Doc Huber came to look at him. He's underweight and there are old bruises on him. This wasn't and isolated event. He's been getting abused for a while now. His behavior is very telling, I've seen it before."

"Oh god! How did we not see it?" Linda cried.

"I told you! She's a stone. Cold. Bitch!" Mr. Cohen said. He never liked Victoria.

"Well folks, I won't detain you any longer. You're free to go home. I have your contact information if I need it."

"Thank you officer." Mr. Cohen said. The group watched as officer Johnson picked up little Joseph and hugged the boy, cradling him like he was his own child before handing him off to a lovely woman that was clearly his wife. They let out a collective sigh born of heartache and guilt. Joseph was in good hands now.

XxXxXxXxX

Loki was grateful that he didn't have any other reservations booked until the following weekend. He needed time to recover after the horror he'd witnessed. His parents had had their moments when they'd been angry or frustrated with him for being lazy in school or smoking pot. His parents had never done anything like that to him. His mother had loved him. Loki palmed the locket containing Frigga's hair, playing with it for comfort.

With the couples and their children now departed the house felt empty. Loki decided to fill his time by cleaning. Jenny, his new cleaning girl had taken care of everything the police would allow, but the purple and red rooms where Victoria and her son had stayed were still in disarray and needed to be cleaned.

Loki had expected things to be out of place in the red room. They certainly had been in the green room where the other children had bunked together. The only thing that had been touched was the bed, which Loki stripped. He went into the purple room next and stripped that bed as well. He gave the bathroom a quick once over and then turned to leave. The faint whistling of the wind drew his attention. He turned back and looked at the mirror on the far wall. Like the one in the blue room this one too had become off-kilter.

He hadn't mentioned the hidden hallway to the police. Everything had happened outside. The hidden passageways between the rooms had not been involved so Loki didn't see a point in saying anything. He felt unease when the mirror swung ajar. He stepped into the inner sanctum to check and see if anything had been disturbed. A quick patrol up and down the corridor revealed nothing and so Loki went back into the purple room, pulling the mirror back into place, never seeing the painting mounted on the other side of it.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

 _"What is this place?" Loki asked as he looked around at the strange desert landscape. The blonde man was with him again. His cerulean eyes were distant and full sadness. He looked sweaty, like he hadn't showered in a long time. A thin layer of sand and dust covered him in grime. Loki noticed the dog tags then, laying against his brown pit-stained t-shirt. He was wearing desert camo-pants also and tan dessert boots. This man was a soldier._

 _"This is where I belong." He said._

 _"Who are you?" Loki asked. He noticed a matching jacket with a name label stitched onto it. "Odinson?"_

 _"Yes. You may call me Thor."_

 _"What are you doing here Thor?"_

 _"I'm waiting to die."_

 _"Why? Come home with me. You shouldn't stay here. It's not safe here."_

 _"This is where I belong." Thor said. Loki heard a sound behind him that belonged to some sort of wild animal. A glob of congealed saliva landed on his shoulder as hot breath puffed against his neck. He turned and saw a great brown bear with glowing red eyes towering above him and ready to strike. It roared._

"Ahhhh!" Loki screamed awake. He was drenched in sweat and could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He reached for his phone to text Emily, but then stopped. He hadn't told the Starks about what happened. If they found out his very first customer died while in his home it would have caused all kinds of drama. Loki didn't want that. What happened with that first group was an apparition. He didn't need his friends jumping on his back about selling this place when he hadn't even gotten started yet. He put his phone down and took a few more deep breaths.

"Thor." Loki remembered the man's name. Thor Odinson. Loki hopped out of bed then and pulled out his brand new laptop. He typed in the name into the Google search engine hoping to get a hit. His search took a while. He had to weed through many pictures and references to men with the same name but not the same face. An old headline from an article in The Army Times caught his eye. The article was a little over seven years old.

 **Incident of Friendly Fire under Investigation**

 _Pvt. Earnest Kinney was shot and killed on Sunday during a fire fight with enemy combatants in a small town bordering Fallujah. The bullet came not from the enemy but from his platoon mate Cpl. Thor Odinson. According to eye-witness testimony what occurred was a tragic accident, a miscommunication that ended the life of one of America's heroes. Cpl. Thor Odinson has been questioned pending an investigation regarding the life insurance benefits of Pvt. Earnest Kinney. Cpl. Thor Odinson is listed as the decedent's beneficiary of $500,000._

Next to the article were two photos of the soldier's mentioned. One of them had the unmistakable cerulean eyes of his fantasy man in the desert. Loki stood up and pulled out the champagne he'd purchased for his guests and drank straight from the bottle. His dream man is a real person.

"Why am I dreaming about you?" Loki took another drink from the bottle and pondered the possibilities.


	6. Chapter 6

Loki looked at Jenny, his new maid. He'd hired her a few days prior to his first guests arriving. She was a hard worker and to her credit did not flee her new job after what happened. She was a young sweet thing, having just turned 18 and graduated high school earlier that summer. Her blond hair and brown eyes spoke of desperation, however. Loki noticed it more since the Joseph incident.

"You know Jenny, I've decided to up your pay to $12 an hour and you're always welcome to eat anything in the fridge here too." Loki noticed spine bumps on her back. What he took for a skinny frame now screamed hunger and Loki wondered if it was intentional or if going without meals was involuntary.

"Thank you! Oh thank you so much!" Jenny said. Her gratitude was genuine. She put down the books she was dusting and hugged Loki. Loki could sense her arousal for him. He'd noticed it a lot lately. He had become the most eligible bachelor in town and now whenever he goes into town he feels the eyes of the ladies following him. He couldn't blame them. Who wouldn't want all this?

Loki radiated an awkward vibe and Jenny pulled back knowing her hopes were going to go unfulfilled. "You're welcome." He said, though he did smile politely at her. Loki and Jenny were in the library going through all the books and trinkets on the shelves. The house appraiser had advised that he go through them and have a book appraiser assess them for their value. Given how old the house was, there could be some real gems hidden in the library.

There were many geographical books with old outdated maps of Africa and the Americas. Loki knew some of these would be very valuable indeed. Others were encyclopedias. There were also some books regarding the business and breeding of slaves.

"Listen to this, _It is important when buying slaves to inspect their skin closely for chronic diseases. These conditions are often masked by a mixture of animal fat and tar that is rubbed into the skin to make them look healthier. It is recommended when buying females for breeding purposes that they still be young but developed enough that the infant can pass through the birth canal, a minimum age of 15 is recommended_."

"That's just wrong." Jenny said.

"Yes it is which means it'll probably be the most valuable book in here." Loki was joking, but he suspected he was right. He next pulled out a medium sized red leather bound book with no title. Loki opened it and discovered page after page of hand written entries. It was a journal.

 **The Personal Accounts of Lord Leslie Maywood**

 _June 6th 1860:_

 _My new wife and I arrived in Tanzania well supplied, though exhausted from the months of travel on the sea. Three of the men died of disease during our voyage, though my darling and I hardly noticed as we kept to our chambers most of the time. I am told the game here is plentiful, though that could just as easily have been had on the other side of the continent. I came here to obtain something else, if it exists. I have brought three slaves with me to offer up as payment if necessary._

Loki became excited as he realized he'd found the diary of the original owner of the home. He knew that this book might contain the reason why the house was abandoned all those years ago and he hoped to find out the answer.

"Hey what do you think is inside this thing anyway?" Jenny asked as she picked up the glass orb from its cradle on the desk.

"I'm not entirely sure. Some of the things I recognize, the rest are a bit of a mystery." Loki said.

"So what is this thing? A paperweight?"

"No, paperweights have a flat bottom. It appears to be purely ornamental." Loki said. "The glass ball was cut open and then it was filled with all that stuff and then sealed up again. It might be a time capsule of some sort, or the items might have had personal significance to whoever made it." Loki surmised. Jenny stared into the orb. Her eyes transfixed upon the little bits of bone. Seconds ticked by and Loki noticed her distant glazed over expression.

"Jenny?"

"Jenny?"

"Jenny!"

"What?"

"What did you do? Zone out to the Twilight Zone?"

"Uh, maybe, nothing…look a squirrel!" Jenny pointed at a vacant spot in the corner, clearly embarrassed by her sudden odd behavior. Her face was flushed red. Loki reached over and took the orb out of her hand and placed it back in the cradle on the desk.

"This is not the droid we're looking for. Come on, we have to check the books on the top shelf." Loki and Jenny spent the rest of the afternoon inventorying the names of the books in the library, noting any dates and author names printed on the bindings or initial pages.

At the end of the day, Jenny went home and Loki sat at the great mahogany desk and surveyed his domain. The manliness of his surroundings coupled with the position of power the desk was in within the room made Loki feel like a king. The man that built this house had been the master of his universe.

Loki noticed the desk drawers and tried to open one, but it would not budge. He pulled out the heavy key ring then and tried the small key hanging from it. He'd wondered for a while now what this key belonged to and this might be the answer. The little key slipped into the key hole and twisted with ease. The top drawer opened, delivering a treasure trove of paperwork that was more than a hundred years old.

The scent of dust and parchment flooded Loki's nose and he sneezed several times in a row. He looked in amazement at old letters, accounting ledgers, and the original blueprints of the house. He noted that the hidden hallway upstairs was not in them. He then saw something that did not belong. He pulled out a piece of paper that looked modern and new. It was stamped with the seal of a notary and was on official city letterhead.

 _Mr. Odinson,_

 _It is the finding of the city council that your petition has merit. Your efforts to improve a derelict property are commendable and to the benefit of the town of Maywood. To save the taxpayers from an expensive and drawn out legal quagmire, it has been decided to grant you ownership of the land and house in dispute. You are commanded to pay $10,563.56 in property taxes in exchange for the deed. You have 30 days to formally respond to this letter and make payment to the county tax collector._

 _Sincerely,_

 _County Land Assessor_

Loki looked up from the letter shocked. Thor was the previous owner. Dread curled in Loki's gut. The joke he told Mr. Gotz when he first bought the house entered his mind and Loki wondered how right he might be. Loki looked around the room again, this time with the knowledge that his grand estate was being haunted.

XxXxXxXxXx

 _"You're not an angel." Thor said to Loki._

 _"Far from it." Loki said._

 _"But you glow. You look like you came from heaven."_

 _"I'm alive. You're not." Loki looked around his surroundings. They were in the middle of the pasture full of the purple flowers._

 _"I am alive." Thor said. He looked beautiful to Loki. Gone was the grime and sweat. He was washed, tanned, and rested. His large muscular arms looked thick as tree trunks and his lips looked kissably soft._

 _"Then where are you? Where did you go?"_

 _"I'm here. I never left."_

 _"What is this place?" Loki asked. Suddenly they were inside the house, except it was in that room; the lover's room. The unmade bed from the painting brought to life once again._

 _"It's our home."_

 _"Our home?"_

 _"Yes. I've been watching you. I like you."_

 _"What happened to Ernest?" Loki asked. Their location changed quickly again and Loki saw they were in the desert._

 _"I deserve this." Thor's appearance changed as well. The sweat and grime returned along with the dead expression in his eyes._

 _"What happened to you?" Loki wanted an answer but instead heard shouting and music behind him. The beating of the drums called to him and he followed. He saw several African men in a circle, one of whom was kneeling before a cloth covered in various little items. He watched the shaman drop bits of bloody bone into the open glass orb. The crowd of men parted and Loki saw an albino human head laid out on the cloth as well. It was his mother. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him._

 _"Help him." Frigga's head said. A hand grabbed him hard on the shoulder and spun him round. A man, with blue eyes like Thor's, sneered in his face. It was the man from the family portrait in the library and the ballroom._

 _"He's mine." Hands wrapped around Loki's throat._

Loki awoke choking for breath. He took deep breaths for several seconds before stumbling to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He splashed his face with water and looked up. Clearly visible were finger shaped bruises circling his neck.


	7. Chapter 7

Edward Mullens stepped off the scale of his mother's bathroom and watched the old spinning disk roll back down from 317lbs to zero. His mother's house smelled like garbage. The unwashed dishes were piled high. Empty and half-empty soda cups from fast food establishments were strewn about the floor. A fruit gnat buzzed by his face and he swatted at it. His laundry was not done. The house quickly fell into an unkempt state following his mother's death. He told the neighbors that he placed her in a nursing home due to her health. However, her current residence was actually the large chest freezer in the basement.

He cracked open a beer as he picked through his mother's mail searching for her pension check and Social Security check. He was going to use them to pay for his weekend of fun. He hopped onto the internet and booked a reservation at a new bed and breakfast just a few miles up the road. The pictures of the house were beautiful and he deserved to live in luxury like that.

XxXxXxXx

The car's engine made loud clunking sounds as it pulled into the driveway of the mansion. He pulled out his overnight bag and made the short climb up the steps, which creaked under his weight. He entered the establishment and saw the face of some smiling young guy.

"Welcome to Maywood Manor. I am Loki, I'll be your concierge. Here, let me take your bag." Ed thrust the stained blue bag into Loki's hands and followed him up the stairs. He huffed and puffed when he reached the top. His five o'clock shadow and uncut hair made him look haggard.

"This house is beautiful!" Ed said too loud, his voice wheezed.

"Here is your room key. If you have need of anything, please let me know." Loki said with a professional smile. Ed grunted and closed the door. His room was light blue in color and the large bed was fit for a king. Edward grinned with a chewing tobacco stained smile, which had one of his front teeth missing. He saw his reflection then and his smile disappeared, having been shown how out of place he was in his surroundings.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki let out a breath he'd been holding. The man stunk horribly, like a dead body. Jenny came out of the gold room holding a bottle of Windex and wrinkled her nose.

"What the hell is that?" She said.

"Our guest." Loki whispered and nodded his head towards the direction of the guest's room. Jenny made a face. Loki did too.

"I'm busting out the scented Lysol."

"He'd have to bathe in it to make an impact. You know you and I are going to have to deep clean that room tomorrow."

"He's going to ruin the duvet."

"I'll have it dry cleaned."

"Forget dry cleaning it. You'll have to burn it. I don't even want to think about what that man is doing in that room alone." Jenny said. Loki felt a bubble of vomit pop in the back of his throat and he belched.

"Oh god, don't make jokes like that."

XxXxXxXxXx

About an hour later Edward came down the stairs to explore the house. He only made it as far as the library. He plopped his massive body down on the leather couch and looked around the room, admiring the décor as so many others had done. Loki and Jenny avoided the man, unfortunately his stench had power and a kick. Jenny started opening windows.

Edward spied the orb on the desk then and stood up to walk to it. Wheezing as he went he placed a meaty palm on the desk to support himself when he reached it. He picked up the orb and gazed into its mysterious center. Everything he ever wanted seemed to be inside it. He looked around and then stuffed the item into his pants before making a (somewhat) hurried dash back upstairs. He hid the orb in his bag to take home on the morrow.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Loki sipped his coffee as he scrolled through a news story he was reading online. He heard the floor boards above creek and he knew it was time to make breakfast. He had planned on making Crab Cakes Benedict this morning but based on his guest's greasy physique, he figured the high class meal would go unappreciated and opted to make biscuits and gravy instead. This was one customer whose repeat business Loki did not want.

Loki heard the man before he saw him. The wood of the stairs strained to support the man's slow heavy steps as he wheezed and gasped. He plopped down at the first available chair at the dinner table and took a moment to catch his breath. Loki turned to greet him and nearly fainted in surprise.

Mr. Mullens was clean. His hair was cut, his face shaved. His clothes had somehow miraculously been cleaned and Loki had to wonder if Jenny had a hand in that. He smelled nice. He loaded up his plate with a modest amount of food and ate it quietly, not saying a word to Loki.

"Good Morning Mr. Mullens. I trust you slept well last night?" Loki tried to engage the man.

"Yes. I slept very well." He said. Loki watched the man fascinated as he ate. The only sound came from the quiet chewing of food and the sipping of liquid. When he finished his meal he asked Loki to get his bag for him from his room which Loki did. Loki entered the light blue room and did a quick inspection. Everything appeared to be in order and the room did not smell foul as Loki feared. It was a miracle. He grabbed the bag of the man's bed and made for the stairs. It was about halfway down the hall that Loki felt a screaming urgency to the check the contents of Mr. Mullen's bag. He paused and unzipped it and found the orb inside.

Loki sneered as he extracted his possession from the bag, palming it possessively. He zipped the bag back up and went charging down the stairs and tossed the bag at Mr. Mullen's chest.

"Get out and don't come again. Theft is not tolerated here." Loki snapped. Mr. Mullens barreled forward at Loki, reaching for the orb, but Loki was much faster and stronger than the fat man and shoved him easily. Loki set the orb down in the kitchen sink and used both of his free hands to extricate the man from the premises.

"Get the fuck out!" Loki growled, shoving as he aimed for the front door.

"It's mine! You fucking little piss ant! You don't deserve it!" Loki knocks the man over and he falls back from the front steps, landing hard on his ass on the pavement of the driveway.

"Get the hell off my property before I call the police!" Loki snarls.

"You'll regret this you fucking skinny little bitch!" The man yelled as he climbed back into his piece of shit car. Loki felt victory listening to the car's backfire as it popped away in the distance.

"What the fuck is up with your guests? Did you post an ad on ?"

"Craigslist?" Loki asked.

"Yep. ." Jenny and Loki couldn't help but laugh at that. It had been a strange weekend.

"I hope that disgusting asshole rots in his own filth. Come on. Let's go bleach everything."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The doorbell rang and Mr. Mullens answered. The package delivery man tried to maintain a friendly courteous smile as the odor from within the house assaulted his senses. He had over a hundred boxes to deliver to this address, but he'll be damned if he is going to go inside that house. It took the driver roughly an hour to unload everything into the front yard of the home.

One by one Ed Mullen carried them all inside. Each box contained some item he'd coveted for years but did not have the money to buy until now. Not paying the mortgage on his mother's house had freed up a lot of money to buy the things he really needed, like a juicing machine and a footie-mop. He filled his house with all his precious babies and then went online to order more.

Pizza came. Chinese came. Ed became addicted to television and the internet. He stopped bathing altogether. He took up a permanent spot in the living room recliner as towers of things teetered around him. He hadn't been down to the basement in weeks. He didn't know that the freezer had broken down and stopped working or that the scent of death was attracting all manner of pests into the home.

First the roaches came. Ed noticed them but paid them little attention, even as they became brazen and came out in broad daylight. Then the rats came and close behind, the snakes. The weeks went by and the bills went unpaid. Water, electricity, and sewage were all cut off. The un-mowed yard attracted complaints from the neighbors and eventually the police came to perform a welfare check on old Mrs. Mullens.

Officer Muldowny knew something was wrong before he even opened the front door. The stench of rot and death could be smelled rom outside and the filth inside the home was visible through the windows. By all accounts, Mrs. Mullens had always been a very tidy lady. He knocked on the door but received no answer. He tried the knob but it was locked. He walked back to his police car and pulled the battering ram out of the trunk, convinced he would find Mrs. Mullen's dead body inside.

"You sure you want to do that?" Office Sandy asked his partner. "I really don't want to go in there."

"Say goodbye to the uniform you are wearing today. There ain't gonna be enough laundry detergent to get these things cleaned when we are done in there." Muldowny said. Sandy grimaced. Muldowny pulled his arms back and swung the ram at the door, busting the door frame and releasing the door. The stench from the house punched him in the face.

"Sweet Jesus." Muldowny's eyes watered. He pushed the door the rest of the way open and heard the rattling sound of a timber rattlesnake. The damn thing was coiled up and perched, ready to strike.

"Oh shit!" He backed up a good 20 feet. "Get animal control down here." The snake saw its opportunity and slithered out the front door into the bushes like a little lightning rod.

"Shit it's out here." Officer Sandy danced backward on his tippy toes, as if prancing about would somehow protect him from a venomous snake bite.

"Nice move twinkle toes."

"You did the exact same thing!"

"Yeah but you did it in front of the dash cam." Muldowny smiled. That footage will make the Christmas video. Both men turned their attention back to the open front door when a flood of rats and roaches poured out of the house like a nightmare exodus from Egypt. Officer Sandy pulls his gun out and Muldowny shoots him a look.

"What are you going to do? Shoot the roaches?"

"I can't do this. I'm getting back in the car." He radios for animal control and for a biohazard crew. They'll need both just to enter the domicile. An hour later, with gas masks and protective gear donned, they enter the home to search for Mrs. Mullens.

Carefully and slowly the step over piles of trash and debris, mindful of any possible snakes that might be hiding. They reach the living room and see a mountain of things, trash, clothes but it is the blue bloated hand sticking out from the bottom of the heap that gets Muldowny's attention.

"Sandy? Didn't Mrs. Mullens have a son in his 50's?"

"Yeah why?" He asked. Muldowny shines his flashlight on the hand and Officer Sandy runs outside to vomit.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Mr. Stark, how are Emily and Daniel?" Loki asked him.

"Emily is passing her classes and Daniel just started up at the firm. He's getting used to the long hours and office politics. How's business?"

"Business is okay. The start was rocky but I'm booked almost solid starting Thursday and running all through Labor Day weekend. The reservations drop off a bit after that but I expected that. This first year won't be much of a money maker but I'm getting established and I have more than enough to live on and maintain the house."

"Well I'm glad to hear things are picking up. Hey, how's that desk ornament of yours?"

"Desk ornament? To what are you referring?" Loki knew damn well what Mr. Stark was talking about and it unnerved him that he would take interest in the thing. It was becoming a pattern among the people that come into the house.

"That glass ball with all the cool stuff inside it on the desk. I really like it. You know Christmas is coming up. Just saying." Mr. Stark said. Loki gave a fake chuckle.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You haven't heard from the detective on your parent's case have you?"

"The call was brief; nothing new to report. Mostly we talked about my new business here."

"Okay well, it was good to hear from you." Mr. Stark said.

"You too. Thanks for calling. Bye-bye."

"Bye." Mr. Stark hung up.

Loki had put the orb back in its cradle on the desk in the library, but now he second guessed that decision. He decided to take it down to his personal apartment in the basement and stash it in his bedroom. In light of the dreams he'd been having he had to wonder about the little bones inside the thing and if they really were human. It was a disturbing thought, but all the more reason to keep it away from the guests.

He placed it on top of his dresser and then divested himself of his clothing and hopped into the shower. His locket still hung about his neck, however, he only removed it when he went to bed at night. Carved from alabaster the beautiful antique opened up to reveal a hollow center. In this small space, Loki kept a small lock of his mother's hair, blood soaked from the night of her murder. He'd taken it when he was identifying her body. The wheels of the train had decapitated her and the rest of her body rendered into a gory smear. His father's body had also been in a similar condition.

Loki grabbed a fluffy towel and rubbed down his pale dripping skin before slapping on a simple pair of silk emerald boxers and slipping into bed. He removed his mother's locket and placed it on the night stand beside him like he did every night before drifting off to sleep.

Thursday came quickly and to Loki's relief they were normal people who stayed the weekend without incident. One young couple, still dating, eyed the ballroom with clear intensions. Loki knew there would be a wedding booking in his future when the man inquired about his party rates and reservation openings for next summer.

The following week was normal too except on the nights when he dreamed about Thor. He wanted to know more about his dream man but he could never remember to ask the right questions while in the dream. It frustrated Loki to no end and he decided that the only way he was going to learn more was by investigating the man in the real world from when he was alive.

He typed Thor's name into the search engine and brought up the article from The Army Times. After a few clicks he managed to find a very tiny follow up article dated a few weeks after the first stating that the investigation concluded and all charges against Thor had been dropped. He'd been awarded the life insurance benefits his friend had left him.

Loki wondered then if Thor's guilt was born of murder or survival. Had he killed his friend and gotten away with it and the monetary payoff or was he punishing himself for accidentally killing his friend?

XxXxXxXx

 _There was the sound of children giggling in the distance. Loki was in the purple wildflowers again in the field across the street from his home. He could see the children playing in the distance. It looked like ring around the roses. There was something off about them, how they all gleamed and glowed in the bright sunshine like marble brought to life._

 _"I've missed you." Thor said behind Loki. Loki turned. Thor looked beautiful. His golden hair floated in the soft breeze that was in the air. The scent of lavender was strong and his blue eyes rivaled the sky. He looked healthy…this time._

 _"Who are they?" Loki asked as he turned back to look at the children, but they were gone._

 _"They don't have names. They died too young and long ago." Thor said. Loki turned to speak to him again and noticed there was now dark blue carpet under his feet and they were standing on opposite sides of the lover's bed._

 _"How do you do that?" Loki asked._

 _"This is where I wish to be and so I am here." Thor said._

 _"The first time I dreamed about you was in this room and you and I…was that real?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"Why? Why do you like me so much?"_

 _"Because you are a good man with a kind and generous soul." Thor said._

 _"How do you know that though?"_

 _"I've been watching you and I'm a good judge of character."_

 _"Thor, did you kill your friend on purpose?" Loki asked. Once again, they were whisked away to a desert with a blazing hot sun. Thor's cracked parched lips and dust covered body sat leaning up against a boulder in the only shade to be seen for miles._

 _"I deserve this." His eyes were sad and distant again, not looking at Loki at all._

 _"Why do you deserve this?" Loki yelled._

 _"I killed him. I killed my best friend."_

 _"Thor I need to know, did you do it on purpose? Did you murder him? I need to know."_

 _"It doesn't matter."_

 _"YES IT DOES!" Loki screamed at the filthy depressed lump. Loud repetitive gun fire rang out behind him and Loki spun to see what is causing the noise. There were brown desert dwellings behind him that weren't there a moment ago along with village people, American soldiers, and local fighters with guns all battling it out for the city. Loki knew then that he was witnessing a memory._

 _No longer watching on the outside, Loki is standing next to Thor again who is in a perch with two other men, trying to pick off their enemies and provide cover to their comrades. Radio speak crackles from a receiver on Thor's shoulder._

 _"Killjoy to Tower, four enemy exiting out south door of the blue doored building. Over."_

 _"Copy. Killjoy we see them. Over." Loki watched as Thor took aim, killing the insurgents as they tried to leap between buildings. Their shared space suddenly filled with the streaming light from many bullet holes. The two men in the tower with Thor both sputtered and coughed as bright red gurgling blood foamed from their mouths. They died with their eyes open. Thor tried to take aim at the source of the barrage but a bullet tore through is left thigh and the barrel of his weapon jerked wildly._

 _In intense pain, under fire, and suffering from blood loss and lack of sleep Thor aimed at the source of the fire. He squeezed the trigger and fired off several rounds, but it was not his shot that killed the gunman. It was Ernest's. Standing only a few feet away from the enemy, Ernie had managed to put a stop to the onslaught a second before Thor realized it. Ernie ran up to the body of the enemy to kick away his gun and Thor let loose one more round._

 _"Oh god!" Loki squeaked. He watched as a large chunk of Ernie's head broke open and away. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. The horror creeped across Thor's features and he screamed._

 _"No! No, no, no, no Thor! It was an accident Thor. Thor listen to me. Listen to me Thor. This was not your fault!" Loki beseeched him but to this Thor Loki was a ghost. Thor's screams filled Loki's ears like a deafening crash of an ocean wave. His head hurt as the sound became louder until he could no longer recognize it as a scream. Loki put his hands to his ears, curling in on himself to stop the terrible sound._

 _Children were giggling again. Loki looked up and he was back in the lover's bedroom with Thor. He looked healthy again as though nothing had happened. As though Loki had not just witnessed a terrible event._

 _"Thor how did you die?"_

 _"I am not dead."_

 _"What did you do to yourself?" His voice cracked. A tear slipped down Loki's cheek as dread curled in his gut._

 _"Nothing I didn't deserve." Thor rounded the bed then and approached Loki. His massive frame should have been threatening but it wasn't. Thor was like a giant warm strong teddy bear desperate to share love and affection. Loki's breathing was jagged and heartbroken._

 _"That first time with you was a bit of a blur." Loki said._

 _"Yes it was. Too fast and unfocused for my tastes. I would have you remember me."_

 _"How could I forget?"_

 _Thor took Loki into his arms and kissed him. It felt so real. Loki could even smell him. Large rough hands gently scrapped his scalp and hair roots as Thor's tongue dove and plunged to explore Loki's mouth. Loki felt the rippling of impossibly large shoulder muscles under his palms as he explored Thor's backside._

 _Loki noticed then that he was still only wearing his green silk boxers and nothing else. Thor unbuttoned his white dress shirt and removed it, revealing the white undershirt beneath. Thor removed this next though with slow deliberate movements. He never broke eye contact with Loki._

 _A quick flash and then they were both naked on the bed together. Loki gasped at the sudden change. Thor pressed the weight of his body down upon him and Loki could feel every exquisite inch of silky fleshy perfection. Thor's chest had hair, but only just and in all the right places. His cock rubbed against Loki's and the men compared sizes by feel alone. Loki felt inadequate and Thor saw it in his eyes._

 _"You have all the things I want." Thor said. The doubt in Loki's eyes turned to shame and he blinked away tears. "Shh. Shh. Let me give you love." Thor kissed Loki again, distracting him as he reached between their bodies to grasp Loki's aching shaft. Loki arched into him and clung to Thor's massive biceps, resting his forehead on Thor's shoulder._

 _"Thor?"_

 _"Tell me what you need baby." Thor's gravelly voice entreated him._

 _"You. I need you." Loki whimpered._

 _Thor was inside him suddenly and they were rutting hard. He didn't remember being breached. He could only feel the sweet stretch and fullness of the electric pleasure/pain of Thor's greatness. Loki whined and keened as he called out Thor's name over and over again in time with Thor's thrusts._

 _"So soft. So beautiful." Thor purred like a mountain lion. "Stay with me Loki. Stay here with me."_

 _"You know I can't." Loki muttered. Thor thrusted even harder to try to convince him to stay, though Loki didn't fully understand what it was that Thor was asking of him. Loki heard his heart roar in his ears as white blinding pleasure stole his senses and overwhelmed his mind._

Loki awoke as his orgasm overtook him and his erection dampened his boxers with a large secretion of spend. He howled his release to the empty cold room.

"THOR!" He cried. Soaked head to toe in sweat, Loki slumped back against his pillows to slow his beating heart. Immediately Loki felt a wave of depression fill his heart for he knew he felt something for his dream man. He felt deeply enough that he had no interest in pursuing someone of flesh and blood. He would be content to fall asleep every night and let that phantom make love to him. It would be all he would ever need.

 **As always I am a whore for comments. Especially on this fic. Let me know what you think of the plot and mystery. Is it too predictable or boring? How do you view Thor now that you know a key piece about his backstory and what do you think his intensions are? Do you see him as a threat to Loki or as another victim of the house? And how do you speculate his story will play out? I am curious to see how my readers see him.**


	9. Chapter 9

Mr. Williams was a nice man. His big personality drew people to him, which was a good thing since his size kept them at arm's length. His Santa Claus personality made him very likable. Loki felt nervous when the very portly man sat down on one of his antique dining room chairs to eat a large dinner. His guest had requested it in addition to the breakfast that was included with a night's stay. Unlike Mr. Mullens, Mr. Williams was someone Loki enjoyed having under his roof and did not want the poor man to suffer a blow to his dignity by having the furniture collapse out from underneath him. Loki praised god when the furniture held.

"I can already tell you're an excellent cook!" Mr. Williams appraised the spread before him. He was the first guest to opt to pay extra for an evening meal. Loki had to dust off some of his old cookbooks to come up with a meal plan. He served surf and turf consisting of a whole lobster plus an 8oz. sirloin steak, a cold broccoli salad, mashed potatoes from scratch, gravy, and biscuits. Fresh made lemonade was also on the table since the tree out back bowed heavy with the fruit.

"Thank you very much. Cooking is one of my hobbies." Loki said.

"Eating is one of mine!" He rubbed his big belly with humor and a big smile. It made Loki chuckle. There were four other guests in residence tonight and the smell of the food called to them. Upon sight of the meal they all opted to pay extra for it.

A husband and wife, the Kellars, sat down next to Loki while two middle aged women, clearly BFFs since forever filled their plates and started conversing with each other. Loki loved this. He loved sitting down with strangers listening to them talk about their lives and get to know one another.

"I love this house. Do you know what is the most magical part of staying here?" Mrs. Kellar asked.

"No. What?" Loki asked.

"It's the room keys. I mean where else is someone going to hand you an old fashioned heavy wrought iron key to open a century old lock to your bedroom? It's so beautiful. I must have spent the past hour just staring at it. There are intricate little details in every corner of this place." She said.

"People do love those keys. I've already had a couple of people try to check out without turning them in. The replacement fee I charge for losing one is very steep."

"I don't blame you. This food is really good. What are you serving for breakfast?" Mr. Kellar asked.

"Tomorrow I think I will make lemon rosemary scones served with ham, pouched eggs, and fresh made hollandaise sauce." Loki said.

"Ooh that sounds really good." One of his female guests said.

"I can't wait to try out the bed in my room. It looks like a princess bed." Her friend said.

"Us too. Our whole room is done in this beautiful deep blue color. It is really pretty." Mrs. Kellar said.

"My room is orange. It's really bright and cheerful. I like it." Mr. Williams said.

"The grounds are pretty too. I love all that lavender growing in the field across the street. It smells divine." One of the ladies said.

"Perhaps we can all explore the field after dinner. I think there will still be enough sunlight left and the sunset will be gorgeous with the fuchsia and orange as it goes down." Loki said. Mr. Kellar eyed Loki for a moment as his gaydar went off with each excited flourish of Loki's wrist that danced in the air as he spoke.

"That's a wonderful idea! We'll all go." Mrs. Kellar said. Everyone nodded in agreement, including Mr. Williams.

They walked in the field together admiring the warm summer evening breeze and the heavy scent of flowers. There was also a slight hint of ozone as a lightning storm thundered in the distance. It should have ruined the sunset, however, the placement of the clouds acted as a picture frame and made the colors all the more vivid. The women giggled as they spread out. Mr. Kellar and Mr. Williams talked at length about wedding anniversaries, Mr. William's wife having died of a heart attack two years ago.

Loki shuffled along in a slow and lazy fashion, kicking at the dirt as he went as he memorized the view. His toe caught on a small skeleton of some little woodland critter. Loki crouched down to inspect it. It looked like it might have once been a prairie dog or hedgehog. Loki then noticed another, and then another. He looked around at his guests but none of them were paying any attention to him. He turned his attention back to the bones and came upon a large pile that was obscured from view by the tall grass and flowers. He didn't know how or why this odd graveyard came to be, he only knew it would unnerve his guests.

"Why don't we all head back inside and I'll whip up a lemon cake and some coffee for dessert?" Loki announced. The others cheered and they all trotted back to the house with Mr. Williams bringing up the rear.

XxXxXxXxXx

Mr. Williams padded out of the bathroom in his very large boxers and white t-shirt. His room reminded him of a bowl of orange sherbet. Its cheerfulness was just the thing he needed during this time of year, now with Millie gone. She had been just as round in her circumference as he. Mr. Williams had no illusions about his health. His type 2 diabetes was beginning to cause problems, conflicting directly with his love of food.

The bed creaked beneath his considerable weight but no other sounds came as he turned off the lamp next to the bed and closed his eyes. His breathing slowed and his mind quieted until the sound of a door hinge disrupted the peace. Mr. Williams opened his eyes to see the large mirror in his room aglow with bright otherworldly light. Far from being frightened, he was intrigued, wondering if he'd died in his sleep and his soul was being summoned to heaven.

"Millie?"

Children giggled. He walked towards the mirror which was as bright as the sun, but it didn't hurt to look directly at it. Once he got close enough the light dissipated and Mr. Williams saw before him a grand buffet. There were whole turkeys and hams surrounded by every side dish imaginable. Steam floated up in spirals of angelic aroma from hot freshly cooked food. The glaze on the ham glistened as if sprinkled with fairy dust. Then he smelled it. Surely this was heaven. Mr. Williams lifted his beefy leg and stepped into the looking glass.

Once on the other side Mr. Williams gazed around at the opulence of his surroundings. The style of the room was in keeping with the rest of Maywood Manor…but more. All the woodwork in the room was gilded with gold leaf. The crystal chandelier that hovered overhead was massive and awesome in its scope. There appeared to be no one else around, begging the question of who made the food and who was it for? It was then that he noticed the empty serving tray in the middle of the table. It was large enough to fit an entire side of beef, or a person. Odd though this was it did not alarm Mr. Williams in the slightest. He reached out and plucked a candied orange slice off of a plater before him and bit into the sweet crunchy pulpy flesh.

Mr. Williams moaned in pleasure at the delicious treat. The hardened sugar glass contrasted beautifully with the acidic juice. But then the taste soured in his mouth and the texture turned into something thick like slimy mashed potatoes. The scent and flavor of human excrement filled his mouth and he spit out the offending food. Though the remainder of the orange slice in his hand still looked delectable, the food he spat out onto the ground was in fact a mouth full of shit.

"Ah! Ahhhh! AHHHHHHH!" Mr. Williams screamed. He dropped the orange rind on the ground and the shrill squeal of a pig demon bellowed behind him. He turned and saw red eyes, giant tusks, and a line of razor straight boar's hair going down the beast's spine. He screamed again and climbed up onto the table to escape the monster, stepping in boiling hot casseroles with his bare feet. He scrambled for the empty serving platter for refuge only to find that once he was there his hands and feet became bound by an unseen force. Trussed up like a turkey with his mouth hanging open in horror, the pig beast stood up on its hind legs, placing its front hooves on the edge of the table for balance. It stared at Mr. Williams.

"Such a little piggy you are." The beast said to him. "Shall I let you eat your fill?"

"NO! No please! Please!" He screamed. The pig beast gave a sinister chuckle.

"Bon apatite."

XxXxXxXxXx

"Mr. Williams?"

" ?" Loki looked at the man with concern. He was white as a ghost and his face was joyless.

"Mr. Williams!" Loki nudged his shoulder.

"Oh? What? What? Um…sorry my mind wandered. What is it?"

"Mr. Williams are you alright?" Loki asked.

"Um…yes, yes I'm fine." He said.

"Breakfast is ready. I have eggs, ham, and some nice oranges I've sliced up!" Loki said all bright and cheery.

"NO!" Mr. Williams shouted. "I mean no. No thank you. I am not feeling well this morning. I think I am ready to check out now."

"Oh. Alright." Loki said. "I'll help you check out. Was everything to your liking?"

"Oh, yes. It was a lovely evening. I shall recommend this place to everyone I know." Mr. Williams said.

"Excellent. I'll help you with your bags."

"Thank you." He said. Loki collected the room key from Mr. Williams and settled the bill. He carried out Mr. Williams bag and placed it into the trunk of his car for him. The men shook hands and Mr. Williams left without a smile on his face. Loki felt dread billow up inside him. He's seen this strange morning after behavior before. It is becoming a pattern. He turned and focused his gaze upon the top of the staircase. He needed to investigate this.

As the other guests helped themselves to hearty amounts of tasty food, Loki climbed the stairs and walked to the orange room. He entered it and scanned the room looking for anything suspicious. His eyes went straight to the mirror. Like in Victoria's room after the incident it was slightly ajar. He snapped it closed and looked at his reflection. For the first time since moving in, Loki conceded that it might not be safe to have people staying in his home.


	10. Chapter 10

_"Thor, who else is here in the house? You said that there are children here? Who are they exactly?"_

 _"I don't know. They like me for some reason. They bring me things and are always happy to see me."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"They think I am a good man." Thor loses his smile and once again they are in the desert._

 _"No, no damn it! Thor, listen to me. You are a good man."_

 _"I killed Ernest."_

 _"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Loki heard his voice echo out into the miles of endless desert._

 _"I deserve this."_

 _"No you don't!" Loki yelled again. Blue carpet. Loki turns to see Thor lying on the bed naked and smiling at him. His breath hitched._

 _"You make me want to forget. You make me want to live." Thor said._

 _"I wish you would. I wish you could." Loki's tears cannot be contained. He climbs onto the bed next to him and cuddles into his warm bronzed form. Thor's arms wrap around him as Loki nestles his head under Thor's chin. "I don't know a damn thing about you. Not really."_

 _"My mom died of a drug overdose a couple months before I graduated high school. I was already eighteen and the state didn't consider me their problem. I had to couch surf with friends until I got my diploma and then I walked into the recruiter station."_

 _"What about your father?" Loki asked._

 _"He's an abusive alcoholic and an ex-con. I stayed as far away from him as I could."_

 _"You're an orphan like me. How did you end up here?" Loki asked._

 _"I could ask you the same. This little town has a certain magnetic pull to it I think." Thor chuckled._

 _"But really, how did you end up here?"_

 _"A stroke of chance really. After Ernie, I took my money and left the Army. I went to New York City at first, hoping to get lost in the sea of people there. But everything was so expensive and my measly $500,000 couldn't get a decent one bedroom apartment. I rented an apartment in a shady part of town but there was crime and drugs everywhere. I started having waking nightmares and realized that the city was bad for me. I needed quiet, something rural. I found a map of New York state and saw this little town."_

 _"Yeah but why this one over any of the others?"_

 _"Because of my mother. Her name was Maywood too." Thor said._

 _"Oh. I see." Loki's whole body tensed. "How did you find this house?"_

 _"I don't know. It just called to me, like a beacon. Everyone in town seemed so blind to it. It's easily the largest structure in town and yet no one even knew this place was here. The front door wasn't even locked."_

 _"What did this place look like when you found it?"_

 _"Surprisingly well preserved given the decades of neglect. There was a minor roof leak and the house was not wired for electricity at all. I had to repurpose the gas wall scones for the new electric fixtures. The kitchen had to be updated and the basement was just a bare empty space. I made some inquiries with the county tax assessor regarding property laws and abandoned homes. I sank a bunch of money and hard work into this place and then claimed it as my own. The city board was pissed! They acted a though this house had magically appeared out of some cloaking mist and I was stealing it from them."_

 _"I'll bet they did." Loki said, feeling Thor was far more correct than he realized._

 _"I loved the upstairs bedrooms and how they were all done in different colors. The blue room is my favorite." Thor said._

 _"Mine too. My favorite color is green. What's yours?"_

 _"Red, though mostly because I used to have to wear green all the time, except when I was deployed to the desert. Everything there is brown. I do love green though. It reminds me of your eyes."_

 _"What kind of music do you like?" Loki asked._

 _"Bluegrass and both easy and hard rock. I also really like 80's music. I love the sound of a fiddle and an old timey singer but I don't like modern country music."_

 _"That's an interesting mix. I expected you to either be all heavy metal or the big country hat and boots type."_

 _"What about you?" Thor asked as his fingers fiddled with a button on Loki's shirt. Loki let one of his hands venture south to rub Thor's tummy and eventually other things._

 _"I don't know about Bluegrass but I do like 80's music and easy rock." Loki pressed a single kiss to Thor's collar bone. Thor got a couple of buttons open and slid his hand inside Loki's shirt to touch bare skin._

 _"I figured you city types would all like classical music and having sticks up your asses."_

 _"Some of us do. Where are you from anyway?" Loki asked._

 _"Some tiny town you've never heard of called Potlatch Louisiana."_

 _"Louisiana? You don't have a very thick southern accent."_

 _"I used to but I learned to tone it down after joining the Army. Being as big as I am with my accent, my friends would call me Bubba and asked me if I like shrimp."_

 _"I'm surprised they didn't ask you if you like dick." Loki took hold of Thor's shaft and stroked it. Thor groaned and stuffed his hands down the back of Loki's pants and gave his ass a firm squeeze._

 _"Couldn't tell them. Had to hide in those days. Ernie knew though." Thor resisted bucking into Loki's hand._

 _"Was he your lover?" Loki tried to sound nonchalant._

 _"No. He liked girls and I wasn't into him like that but he was a very close and dear friend. He didn't have any family either. In fact it was the life insurance policy that first brought us together."_

 _"How do you mean?" Loki's hand stopped._

 _"During Basic Training they issue you everything you need and draft up all this paperwork to make sure you are taken care of in every conceivable way. Life insurance is almost automatic. You simply have to select the amount you want and put down the name of a loved one to receive it if you die. Almost everyone always chooses the maximum amount of $500,000. But Ernie and I just sat there staring at the piece of paper. We didn't have anyone. He was a ward of the state. He grew up in multiple foster homes and I sure as hell was not going to leave my drunken wife-beating father $500,000. We both saw each other and we knew. We shook hands and exchanged names and that was it. We became inseparable after that."_

 _"My parents were murdered a year before I graduated. The killer was never caught. He shoved my parents in front of an oncoming train. They never saw it coming and there weren't any witnesses that could identify him."_

 _"I remember. You got rid of the footage. Why did you do that?"_

 _"I need to forget. I need to move on so I can live my life. Keeping my heart in the past is making me sick. I can't keep doing it. I know now that I will probably never find out who killed them or why and I need to make peace with that, if only to help me keep my sanity." Loki said._

 _"I wish to do the same." Thor said. "But I don't know how to leave this place."_

 _"Then I will stay with you for as long as I can."_

Loki awoke feeling heartbroken. He wiped the tears away as his hands scoured his face. "Maywood. Oh dear god Maywood!" He said. Loki had planned to ask Thor if he or someone else was attacking his guests. He didn't quite get there. Instead he learned something else, which might incidentally be the answer to his question. He knew what he needed to do today.

After dressing he headed upstairs. Jenny was not due to make an appearance for a couple more hours. Loki frowned when he thought of her. Labor Day was over and he had not received any bookings for the coming weekend. Loki did not want to lay off Jenny but without any customers, he was hard pressed to find any meaningful work for her to do. When she came in, he tasked her with sweeping, mopping, and then waxing the entire ballroom floor by herself. It took her the entire shift to complete.

Loki spent his day reading. For hours he scoured the pages of Lord Leslie Maywood's journals hoping to find an entry that might explain why he built this house and/or how he died, but his research did not bear fruit. Rubbing his eyes, Loki closed the tome in defeat.

The evening came and Loki sat alone and watched television until 9 o'clock when he could no longer pretend that he wanted to do anything other than sleep and see Thor again. He lay down and closed his eyes thinking of the questions he wanted to ask him.

 _Mwanawa sobbed in the darkness. She sat on her knees in the dirt before the mud puddle filled with her dead baby's blood. They'd hacked him up in front of her as though he were nothing more than a chicken bought at market. The six men took off with the remains to take to the witch doctor for their pay. She wondered in her sorrow, how many other mothers had suffered her pain because of the greed of men._

 _She knew of the item the shaman would make from her child. She had once sought out the man for her own needs. Only now did she understand the full price of his favors. Mwanawa reached into her knapsack and pulled out her knife. It was hefty and long, at least six inches with a jagged section on the top for sawing. She used it for everything._

 _With her knife she drew a circle in the dirt around her son's blood. She looked up at the night sky to the realm of her ancestors and begged them to help her avenge her child and all the others that have suffered as she had. In her native language she uttered a sacred prayer._

 _"Let the things they seek be their undoing. Let the pain they inflict upon others come back to them times three. Let the things that bring them pleasure become their greatest torment. Let their evil be their own punishment. From the depths of my soul, I cry out to you! Give me justice!" Mwanawa turned the knife and plunged it into her gut, letting her blood spill into the puddle with her child's. It took her hours to die and she lay like that all night until, with the first rays of rising sun, her last breath left her._


	11. Chapter 11

Loki sat up. Directly in his line of sight was the orb, sitting on his dresser. Loki forgot about that first disturbing dream, but its imagery and meaning came flooding back to him. She'd turned Maywood's magic sphere, meant to bless him with wealth and happiness into a snare.

"Good for you." He said to the orb. He hoped that wherever Lord Maywood was, he was suffering in torment. He got out of bed and picked up the orb to inspect the bones within.

"How many children are in this thing?" Loki wondered aloud. He thinks he saw seven children playing in the field. He'll have to pay attention the next time he sees them. Seven would make sense. There are seven large mirrors upstairs, and seven is supposedly a magical number for some reason.

It occurred to Loki then that Thor had gotten caught up in this snare somehow and needed help breaking free. He debated for a moment which course of action to take. Should he burry the orb like a coffin, hold a small funeral perhaps? Should he try to break it open? Or should he have a priest come and bless the house?

Loki looked at the orb and decided to break it open. The glass cap was sealed tight is melted gold. Loki picked it up, feeling the weight of it.

"Well, if gravity can break a Christmas ornament it can break this." He spiked the orb like a football, attempting to smash it on the floor, but it bounced. It bounced like a damn beach ball.

"Okay. I see how it's going to be." Loki took the orb upstairs to the kitchen. He pulled out a serated bread knife and sawed at the gold seal. The knife bent like aluminum.

"Okay. Now I'm mad." He threw it against the floor again and watched it make a high arc back into the air, bouncing down the hallway as if to give Loki the middle finger.

"Fire then. Fire kills everything." Loki went into the library and started a fire in the fireplace. When the flame was large and standing near it made Loki uncomfortable, he picked up the orb again and tossed it into the fireplace. The whole house groaned and the lights dimmed. Loki was shoved backwards by an invisible force and orb jumped out of the fire and rolled on the floor leaving a small trail of flames in its wake. Loki quickly stomped on them to put them out.

The knob on the front door clicked and Jenny let herself in. Alarmed by the smell of smoke she raced down the hall, following her nose.

"Loki?"

"Loki?" She rounded the corner, finding Loki cursing a blue streak and kicking the orb back towards the fireplace. He looked up at her, scandalized.

"What are you doing?"

"I ah…dropped this damn thing and it fell into the fire and then it rolled back out and I nearly burned the house down."

"Good job. Way to go." She walked into the library and picked up the orb. It was cool to the touch but covered with soot and ash. She walked out of the room with it towards the kitchen with Loki trailing behind her. She grabbed a kitchen towel and some Windex and in seconds it was good as new, not a scratch on the damn thing.

"There. All better." She handed it back to him.

"Thank you. I'll go put this away now." He turned to go down the basement stairs.

"So what am I doing today boss?"

"Dust all the upstairs rooms and air them out. Vacuum the whole house and inventory the bed linen."

"Okie Dokie." She gave Loki an amused look and set about her business.

Loki got back downstairs to his apartment and put the orb back in its cradle.

"This isn't over." Loki said to it.

XxXxXxXxXx

After attempting to crush the orb, melt the orb, freeze it, and then taking a blowtorch to the damn thing Loki threw his hands up in frustration. The orb is indestructible. Clearly it will take something more than mere physical mishandling to destroy it. He considered contacting Reverend McDowell but decided he needed to hire the big guns and contacted St. Vincent's Catholic Church 45 minutes away in Ashleyville. Loki spoke with a very nice man, Father Sheldon, and invited him to come dinner and bless the house the following evening.

When Father Sheldon arrived Loki opened the door to greet the man. He was tall and skinny and his white hair and liver spots advertised his age. Though his wrinkled hand looked fragile it still possessed the iron grip of a construction worker. He smiled a gleaming white line of perfect manufactured teeth at Loki.

"Thank you Father for coming on such short notice."

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner and to this very grand home of yours." He said. Loki offered the man his arm for balance as they walked up the porch steps into the home.

"Why, I must say, they don't make 'em like this anymore."

"No Father they sure don't."

"I hope I brought enough holy water." He muttered.

"Well, if not we can substitute it with some fire water. Care for a glass of wine?"

"I would love that. Thank you." Father Sheldon chuckled. He looked Loki up and down. It warmed his heart to see a young man like him still embracing the faith. Too many bad priests and too many scandals had thinned the flock.

"You are awfully young to be living in this big place all alone."

"Ah yes well I'm not always alone. I've turned this house into a bed and breakfast, but we've entered the slow season. Plus I've only been open a couple of months and things are still getting off the ground."

"Is that pot roast I smell?"

"Yes Father. Ah Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon recipe specifically."

"Ah now that is divine."

"Yes it is." Loki pulled out a chair at the dinner table for the father and then went back into the kitchen to dish up dinner. He came back in a flash with two steaming plates full of beef stew piled high on top of egg noodles.

"Care to say grace?" Father Sheldon asked.

"Oh…yeah. Ehem, Thank you Father for this food, for this house, and for good friends. Amen."

"Amen. No family?"

"Ah no. I'm an orphan." Loki said and then took his first bite of the dish. He'd really outdone himself.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Were you very young when it happened?"

"I was still in high school. They were murdered."

"Mmmm, this is wonderful… the food I mean." Father Sheldon tried to quickly chew down his mouthful of food.

"Thank you for the compliment. It's alright, I'm not really interested in talking about my parents anyway. I really wanted to talk about this house. Do you believe in ghosts father?"

"In a manner of speaking yes. When we pray, we are often speaking to the communion of saints, who are nothing more than righteous people that have passed on. They in turn ask god's permission to bless us or intervene on our behalf. God doesn't always say yes to everything we want obviously, but I suspect you are referring to something different. Are you of the belief that this house is haunted?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"No! Of course not! I get invitations to bless homes like this all the time." Father Sheldon kids Loki and gives him a humorful smile.

"This house is haunted father. I've seen things and bad things have happened to people here."

"People are haunted son, as you clearly are, but if it gives you peace of mind I will bless your lovely home."

"Thank you father. It means a lot to me." Loki said. They continue the meal in congenial silence, with the occasional moans of pleasure born of good food and good wine.

"I couldn't eat another bite, but you could. You're awfully skinny for being so tall."

"I could say the same about you, and I'm not that skinny. I'm just built with very compact muscles. Underneath all this fabric is the body of a sinewy god."

"Ha! I'm sure. You must be beating the ladies off with a stick then?"

"Um…not really. I've been too focused on business to give them my time actually."

"Nothing wrong with that at your age. It is good for you stake your claim in this world, but do not put off having a family for too long. A good young man like you shouldn't miss out on the joys of marriage and fatherhood."

Loki kept the truth to himself on that front and only responded with a polite. "Yes father." They rose from the table and Father Sheldon pulled his flask of holy water from his jacket.

"Where would you like me to start?"

"The library if you don't mind." Loki felt on pins and needles. He'd put the orb back on the desk in the library and hoped the father's blessing would somehow 'unmagic' it.

"Alright then. Lead the way." They took the few short steps down the hall and Father Sheldon's jaw dropped at the spectacle before him.

"My my, this must be your favorite room."

"Yes, my males guests love it too."

"And I bet the wives all hate it."

"Only some." Loki giggled. Father Sheldon looked around , ready to begin his blessing when he noticed the two urns on the fireplace.

"Son? Are there ashes in there?"

"Yes father. My parents. Their bodies were mangled beneath a train. Cremation was only practical." Loki looked down at the floor feeling guilty though he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason why. Father Sheldon grabbed him lightly on the shoulders.

"Son, you have a tomb in the middle of your house."

"I know."

"You should scatter the ashes so you can mourn properly."

"I know." Loki continued staring at his shoes.

"Tell you what, why don't we do that after I'm done blessing the house. That field of flowers across the street would be a lovely place for them."

"Okay." Loki said, if only to appease him for the moment. He'll spread their ashes, but not here. Not on this property. Father Sheldon uncorked the flask and began sprinkling the air with holy water.

"In the name of the Fat-Ah! AH!" Father Sheldon hunched over

"Father what is it?!" Loki went to his side and guided him to the nearest couch. Loki noticed that half of his body was limp. When Father Sheldon looked up, half of his face was drooping.

"Oh God! Oh god it's a stroke. Ah, ah, ah…I'll call an ambulance!" Loki fumbled for his cell phone to call 911. He stuttered his address to the emergency operator, begging her to make the paramedics hurry. Eight minutes felt like an eternity as he prayed and begged for god to let the priest live. The fire department arrived first and they stabilized him as best they could until the ambulance came 5 minutes later. Loki got into the back of the ambulance with him and they rode to the hospital together. Needles and IV's were inserted into the father's arms. Heart monitor leads were placed on his chest. Soothing words were said to calm everyone's nerves.

At the hospital Loki paced the waiting room as the doctors did their work. All the staff around Father Sheldon was busy but not necessarily panicked, until it was. Loud beeps and alarms went off inside the room. Instructions were shouted and feet scurried, then all went quiet.

"Mr. Laufeyson?" The ominous inquiry came from a bedraggled looking doctor.

"No. No please. He didn't die at my house. Please tell me he did not die at my house."

"No, he died just now. Here." The doctor said. Loki squat down and ran his fingers into his hair.

"I killed him. I invited him to dinner and he had a stroke under my roof." Loki cried, loud and ugly and full of fear.

"He's 87 years old. These things happen." The doctor put a comforting hand on Loki's left shoulder. "He's with god now."

Loki said nothing to that. He knew, deep to his bones, that this was his fault.


	12. Chapter 12

No dreams came. No Thor. Not even nightmares. Loki sobbed for a full week after Father Sheldon's death. He yelled and screamed at the orb as if it could answer him. As if it could confess. He hid his behavior from his housekeeper Jenny. The funeral came on a Sunday at St. Vincent's in Ashleyville. In a sea of strangers he was a strange face, known only to others as 'the guy whose house Father Sheldon died in'. The ordeal left Loki drained and depressed.

Another week passed. No dreams. No Thor, nothing but Loki alone with his misery and Jenny hovering in the background. She was his only human contact most days and she began to worry for him. October came and the weather turned cold. The summertime purple in the field gave over to green and then light brown. Leaves withered and crunched beneath heavy booted feet. The house was dormant it seemed. Loki's melancholy turned to heartache as each night came and went with no contact from Thor. He began to wonder if Thor only existed inside his head.

"Get up. You're taking a shower now. You have guests coming." Jenny ordered like a drill sergeant.

"Someone booked a room?" Loki did not hide the panic in his voice very well.

"No. I've invited some of my friends over and you, me, and they are all going to get rip roaring drunk and watch funny movies."

"What? Jenny I can't…"

"Can't what? Become a suicidal hermit? I know this is the slow season, but this place is beginning to develop a reputation. People are starting to call this place 'The Death House'. You need to do damage control now! Now I know you've survived some fucked up shit and you've only had a handful of guests and two of them have died here but you need to fight back. I started with something small. Three of my friends are coming over. They're bringing pizza so you don't have to cook. I told them we'd tap your alcohol stash but that they need to behave. You need to get out of this funk you're in and join the human race. They are coming over and you are not hiding."

Loki wanted to yell at her. He wanted to scream and shout and say 'how dare you' and 'this is my house' and every other angry thing that came to mind. But he was also tired. He didn't want to be sad or lonely or afraid anymore. And what could he say to justify his response? That people are right? That this is the death house and beware this wretched place? She'd think him insane for sure. Loki was already considering that might be a real possibility. "Okay."

"Good. If things go well tonight and you break out of your shell, we can move on to something bigger. Halloween is coming up and I think you need to throw a party. It will give the people in town a chance to see inside "The Death House" and help put rumors to rest. Plus it'll drum up business."

"I don't think we should."

"You know I'm right…BOSS. I've run out of things to dust and I would very much like to keep my job, so get off your ass."

"Yes ma'am." Loki marched downstairs and did as he was told. He felt at war with himself. He didn't want to be responsible for any more deaths, but then maybe Father Sheldon's blessing had worked. Or maybe Loki had managed to damage the orb in some unseen way? This past month since Father Sheldon's death has been so uneventful, but then again he hadn't had any customers. And then there is Jenny. She comes here every day and nothing ever happens to her. What if all this really is in his head?

He stepped out of the shower and put on some real clothes instead of just sweats. He looked at his empty unmade bed and longed to be in Thor's arms. He wondered if he had somehow harmed Thor by trying to destroy the orb and worried that he would never see his golden lover again.

The doorbell rand and Loki ran up the stairs to greet Jenny's friends.

"Hey hey! Pizza is here!" Josh announced as he entered Loki's home. Mark and Julie filed in behind him and each gave Jenny a generous hug. Mark and Josh both looked like the athletic frat boy types Loki avoided in college.

"Hey man. Nice to meet you. Your house is amazing. I've been wanting to see the inside of this place for months." Mark said.

"Thanks." Loki said.

"The living room is over here guys. We can all plop down on these big puffy couches and put the movie in. I'll go grab some beers from the fridge."

"Hey ah, Jenny was telling us about you. I'm sorry for your loss man." Josh said.

"Thank you." Loki swallowed hard and looked at the ground. For a moment he thought he was talking about Thor.

"So what are we watching?" Julie asked her friends.

"Robin Williams stand up. He did it on Broadway a few years back. It's supposed to be really funny." Josh said. Jenny came back from the kitchen with beer and paper plates. The pizza was set down on the coffee table and the DVD was shoved into the player. Loki settled in with a beer and a slice to watch the show. Jenny sat next to him. He felt nervous at first, having these people in his house and for a multitude of reasons. However, the brilliance of Robin Williams had Loki laughing like a hyena within five minutes. It started with make chuckles, then high pitched giggles, and then full roars of laughter. The beer kicked in and Loki's face flushed red. Robin had been in rare form when he did this show. He whipped out jokes so fast Loki was missing some of them between his bouts of laughter.

Jenny kept looking at Loki and smiling, relief etched in her features. He looked so beautiful when he smiled. He hasn't done it in so long. The wonderful buzz Loki developed melted all his worry away. He continued drinking as the show went, finishing his fifth beer by the time the movie was over. Loki could barely keep his eyes open by then.

"He looks like he's done Jenny." Josh said.

"Yeah, I think so too. Loki? Hey boss. You able to make it down the stairs to your room?" She nudged at his shoulder gently. Loki didn't say anything but he tried to stand up only to sit right back down again.

"I'll get him." Josh said. He was a big dude and knew he could lift Loki easily. He slung one of Loki's arms over his shoulder and grabbed him by the waist.

"Okay man. Don't fall on me okay?" He helped Loki limp down the narrow basement stairs, made more so by having two people sharing the same step. Josh went through one door and then another, finding Loki's bed. He helped Loki shift up into bed and was pulled down for a beer flavored kiss.

"Whoa! I'm not Jenny guy."

"Mmmm Thor…. I've missed you." Loki mumbled. Josh had to stifle a snicker.

"I'm not Thor either man." He shook his head. "Jenny is going to be so pissed!" The young man ran back up the stairs to his friends.

"Well, it was fun. Um, tell your boss we said thank you for the beer when he comes to, eh?"

"Thank you guys for coming over. I know he didn't interact much but just doing something this normal is so rare for him. It was good."

"He needs a girlfriend Jenny. You could help him with that you know." Julie said.

"Believe me I've tried. He never looks at me like that."

"That's because he's your boss. He's not supposed to. Sexual harassment and all that. He's probably afraid you'll sue him."

"I didn't think of that. You are probably right." Jenny said. Josh got a peculiar grin on his face.

"What?" Jenny asked.

"So…ah…he's not dating anybody?"

"No."

"You sure about that? Nobody coming and going after you get off work?"

"Not that I know of. Just the guests. Why?"

"Nothing." Josh said.

"Wait a minute! What do you know?"

"Nothing." Josh repeated. He wasn't about to cop to the little kiss that just happened downstairs.

"You know something."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do, now out with it."

"Nothing, I just… I think he's gay."

"Oh he is not! You think that about anybody with even a little bit of class." Jenny argued.

"I don't know Jenny. I think Josh is right. He's young, rich, and not ugly. Why isn't he waist deep in pootang?" Mark added.

"He's been through a lot. You know that. I told you." Jenny said.

"I don't know Jenny. If it were me, I'd fuck the pain away because I could."

"You're a pig." Jenny said. Mark made an oinking sound as he turned to leave the house.

"Night Jenny." Julie said.

"Night guys. Call me tomorrow."

"Night Jen." They said. Jenny shut the door and locked it. She decided to spend the night here in the house with Loki to make sure he was okay. She stood there and debated on whether to crash upstairs, downstairs, or on the couch in the living room. She wanted to sleep in one of the lavish rooms upstairs but if she did that then she'd have to clean the room and change the sheets. She didn't like the couch. That left sleeping next to Loki in his bed with him.

"I shouldn't do that." She said out loud, but she'd never been one to follow her own advice. She went downstairs to the basement and Loki's personal private living space. She felt weird being here. She was definitely crossing a line. She never went passed the laundry machines at the bottom of the steps. She took her shoes off and crept into his room.

Loki looked so gorgeous lying there. Jenny had imagined him making love to her numerous times. In all her fantasies he was her prince charming and this house their castle. She was Cinderella and Loki would sweep her off her feet and tell her she was what he'd been waiting for. She crawled into bed beside him and curled up against his dozing frame. He didn't stir in the slightest as she jostled the mattress. She knew she shouldn't but he was out cold and wouldn't remember anyway. She risked a kiss. She palmed his cheek to angle his face a little better and licked his lips before sliding a tongue inside his mouth. Loki didn't reciprocate. He was too deep in sleep. He tasted like beer and pizza but she didn't care. She rested her head on his beating chest and fell asleep listening to the peaceful rhythm.


	13. Chapter 13

Jenny's eyes popped open. She was wide awake. Loki's body hadn't budged an inch all night and he was snoring quite loud. She realized she needed to make a hasty retreat before Loki woke up, or all kinds of weirdness would ensue. What the hell came over her last night? Did she want to get fired? She looked at Loki's adorable sleeping face and then she remembered. She'd risked all just for a one sided kiss. Worth it! She shifted her weight in a slow careful attempt to extricate herself from the scene of the crime. The minute movement disturbed Loki, however, and his eyes opened. Jenny had to think fast.

She bounced on the bed as if she'd just arrived and played off the fact that she was sitting on his bed in his private apartment.

"Morning boss! You ready for coffee yet or are do you want to spend the entire day in darkness?" Jenny said with feigned brightness and cheerfulness.

Loki groaned and squinted his eyes. His head pounded and his mouth tasted of spider webs and cat breath. He didn't want to move, but his overfull bladder commanded him to rise.

"Oh god, coffee. Coffee, water, and an aspirin please!" He stumbled into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Jenny released a great sigh of relief. She ran upstairs with lightning speed and started a pot brewing. She made a quick trip to the bathroom under the staircase to see to her own needs and check her appearance in the mirror. She really wanted to brush her teeth but she didn't have that available. She decided she'd just have to lace her coffee with some peppermint oil and hope it masked her breath until she could get home and do something about it. She ran her fingers through her stringy bed hair.

"Time to start putting the moves on him." She said with confidence and a smile. She went back into the kitchen and pulled out a skillet to make some omelets. She pulled out a steak, onion, tomatoes, and mushrooms to slice and dice into itty bitty pieces. Loki came lumbering up the stairs and Jenny poured him a cup of coffee and handed him some pills.

"Mmmm. Thank you." Loki gulped down the steaming liquid.

"I'm making you breakfast for a change. Relax." She said. Loki complied without a word, sitting at the table and rubbing his temples. "How do you feel? Aside from the hangover I mean?"

"Better. I do feel better, thank you. Your friends got home okay?"

"Yeah. They had a great time. They think you need to get out more. I agree with them."

"My mother once said that I was too comfortable with being alone. I didn't understand what she meant by that at the time."

"She was right. You need more friends and you need to get away from this house once in a while."

"I know you are right. Bad habits are hard break I guess."

"So, do you think you are up for throwing a Halloween party here?"

"I don't know Jenny. What if something bad happens? I'd never forgive myself for putting someone intentionally in harm's way."

"Loki what are you talking about? You don't actually believe all the Death House rumors going around about this place do you?"

"Well, how could I not? The previous owner disappeared and no one knows where his body is, that foul Victoria woman was run over right in front of me and several other people, and Father Sheldon died right in middle of trying to bless the house. What am I to think?"

"Does this house have a weird history? Yeah, I'll grant you that. Was Victoria's death the work of ghosts or demons? No, except maybe her own. She got what she deserved. Father Sheldon had a stroke after eating a very delicious last meal that you made. I know on some level you are thinking that the food must have killed him, but he was 87 Loki."

"But what if someone else dies here while at the party? What if the rumors are true?"

"No one is that unlucky Loki. Not even you."

"I…I don't know."

"Look, planning the party will give me something to do. I can put up flyers in the community and do some social networking on my cellphone. This place is going to fail if you don't turn this around, and it is doomed to fail if you start believing all the fairytale bullshit and lies about this place. Please let me do this. I'm tired of pretending to sweep the ballroom floor. There isn't a dust bunny in sight in there. We should break it in."

"I…(sigh)"

"Please?" She batted her eyelashes. "It can be a masquerade ball and we can charge $5 a head. 21 and over only if you want to keep the high schoolers away."

"That would include you wouldn't it?" Loki twisted his mouth into a crooked smile.

"Yeah well I guess it'll be a good thing I'll be working the event."

"And earning overtime while having fun?"

"If you insist."

"I'm going regret this."

"You won't! I promise. It'll be the best thing. It's going to be awesome!" Jenny squeaked with excitement and did a little dance as she moved the eggs around in the skillet. Her omelets were turning into scrambled eggs.

XxXxXxXxXx

For two weeks Jenny practically dragged Loki all over town and into neighboring towns to get all the party supplies they needed. They had to drive over two hours to get to a decent costume store where Loki could choose something to wear. For Jenny it was a heavenly experience. They'd go into a place and drop hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars on supplies for either food, or a portable buffet serving station, or cases of liquor. Each time Loki would open up his wallet and pull out his credit card and pay for everything without flinching or bitching. Jenny spent much of the time imagining he was paying for their wedding reception supplies.

"What should I be, do you think? Loki pulled a hippie costume off the rack and held it up.

"No. You're the Lord of the Manor. You should either dress like Prince Charming or Dracula. And by that I mean the Gary Oldman Dracula, not the Bela Lugosi Dracula. And not the creepy white haired beehive Dracula but the young one with the long ringlets in his hair."

"Not the Twilight Dracula?"

"Number One, No. Just no. Number Two, vampires have fangs and they don't fucking sparkle! Number Three: Team Jacob bitches!"

"Ha! Alright then." Loki went back to perusing the racks in search of something old fashioned, romantic, and stately. He found a bunch of generic costumes all named "The Duke" in a variety of colors. Loki picked through them and chose the one with green detailing. He looked it over and decided that with a powdered wig and little make-up he'd look like the spitting image of a French courtier from the time of Queen Antoinette.

"How about this?" He held it up for Jenny's approval.

"Perfect!" She looked in over with a dreamy smile. Her high school prom dress from her senior year still hung in her closet at home and it was the same shade of green. It had a full bell skirt and a corseted bust

"Ooh look. A non-slutty French maid costume. This will be perfect for you during the party. I can get us matching powdered wigs." Loki said. Jenny's face fell slightly but she nodded in agreement. She'll go to the party in the maid costume, but she planned to make a wardrobe change about halfway through.

XxXxXxXxXx

Halloween was on a Friday this year and the turn out for the party was far greater than Loki could have imagined. As Jenny predicted, everyone in town turned out to see the inside of 'The Death House'. The exterior of the house was done up with spooky lighting and cheesy dry-ice mist and fake witch screams on tape. It didn't take much more than that. The grandness of the house did the rest to set the mood.

Loki acted the part of the dutiful host as Jenny scrambled to keep the punch bowls filled and the liquor flowing. Just for the evening Loki hired four local college kids to help out with replenishing hors d'oeuvres and keeping the trash under control. Jenny directed them. She watched as the crowd shuffled in and noticed that a great number of the single young women were all dressed in some version of Cinderella. How cliché. Jenny smiled. They were all wearing the wrong color dress anyway. Most were sporting the Disney ice blue or bridal white, but Loki's black coat and trousers had green accents. She also noted that instead of a white powdered wig, Loki had opted for a black one with a green ribbon to tie back the ponytail. He completed his look with a simple black mask, which was required to gain entrance.

Classical music played in the background at the beginning of the ball, allowing for easy conversation and time for the guests to eat and enjoy the libations. A few women dared to ask Loki to dance and Loki gracious accepted and swept across the floor with them as best he could, since neither he nor any of the girls knew how to waltz. They all made goo-goo eyes at him and flirted with him. He seemed oblivious, for which Jenny was grateful, nay hopeful. At 9:30 she abandoned her post and ran upstairs to one of the guest rooms to change.

Minding her white powdered wig, she ditched the maid costume and put on her green prom dress ball gown. She'd praised god when she found it at the Goodwill in the bridal section. It had cost her $50. God only knows how much it was actually worth. She looked at herself in the big mirror of the blue Antoinette room, very pleased with her appearance. She glided gracefully down the staircase, knowing she was making an entrance. This was her moment.

Loki noticed people stopping to stare at something and he turned. He saw Jenny. She was stunning. She was gorgeous. She was looking at him in a way that could not be mistaken. Shit! Loki felt panic in his chest. How did he not notice this? She's in love with him and he's…he's…

"Aren't you going to ask me to dance with you?" Jenny said. Her smile was quickly fading into a look of concern.

"Yes, of course. Please." Loki wrapped a hand around her waist and the other took her hand. Everyone in town was watching them.

"You look very handsome tonight Loki." Jenny beamed at him with love filled eyes. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now."

"No Jenny…"

"I really like you. You're sweet and smart and funny. I just want to hold you and make all the hurt go away."

"Thank you." Loki looked at his shoes. He couldn't look her in the eyes. Jenny sensed his hesitation and her nerves started to show.

"I can quit my job if you want. I know it would look bad if you tried to date me since you're my boss."

"Jenny, I'm gay."

"What?"

"Jenny, I like men."

"WHAT?"

"I though you knew."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GAY?!" Jenny yelled at the top of her lungs and pushed away from Loki with rage. Loki's face redden with both embarrassment and anger.

"Jenny!" Loki hissed at her to be quiet. Jenny's bottom lip trembled and tears slide down her cheeks. She'd been stupid. She'd been a stupid silly little girl. Josh was right. She ran from the ballroom and back up the stairs to hide in the blue room.


	14. Chapter 14

Jenny locked the door behind her and ran into the bathroom. She climbed into the large claw foot bathtub with a hand towel and sobbed into it. She'd completely humiliated herself in front of the entire town and outed Loki, her boss. Loki will fire her for sure. He'll have to. He can't keep her around, not after what she did. She sobbed for what seemed like an eternity, about 15 minutes. Thirsty and exhausted she got up to get a drink of water. Using a beautiful vintage crystal cup on the vanity she sipped down the cool tap water from the sink. She looked at her wrecked face in the mirror and noticed the large wall mirror behind her, creating an illusion of infinite Jennys. She turned to look at herself in the full length mirror. She really did look pretty tonight.

This bathroom was larger than all the other guest bathrooms and the only one that had one of the large mirrors in it. She always did find that odd. She wiped away the mascara smudges under her eyes and turned to leave, but she stopped in her tracks at the sound of a door hinge. She turned back and looked at the mirror to see Loki standing behind her. She turned, but he was not there. She turned again to the mirror and still saw him. Her hair stood up on the back of her neck. The Loki in the mirror reached for her reflection and nuzzled her neck. She watched as her reflection responded to his touch, blissful from the caress. Her mouth hung agape as she watched the mirror as though watching a television show of her most intimate fantasies.

She and Loki kissed. Their hands raked over each other's bodies in a way she always imagined. Loki looked at her with a fire in his eyes, forcing Jenny to recognize that the real Loki never looked at her like that. The lustful piercing gaze set her womanhood to throbbing as her reflection and Loki started disrobing before her. She gasped and panted as each article of clothing dropped to reveal a new patch of bare skin. Her breath hitched when she saw Loki in all his glorious beautiful nakedness. He gripped her reflection's hip possessively, like an animal and the two dropped to a bed…a bed? They began making love.

The background dissolved into some bedroom Jenny did not recognize. She watched as Loki's perfect cock slid into her near virginal opening. She could hear them now, moaning each other's names as skin lapped obscenely. They climaxed together and the real Jenny did too. Just the images and the desire alone made her wet with want.

The scene changed and she was pregnant. Loki hugged her from behind telling her how much he loved her. They walked in the field together, and then dined at some expensive restaurant together. They were on a beach as a five year old boy rode Loki's shoulders. He had Jenny's eyes. She had a ludicrously large diamond ring on her finger and she wore expensive designer gowns. She wanted for nothing.

The scene changed again and Jenny's reflection was gone, replaced by some blonde muscly man Jenny had never seen before. Golden and naked, he walked up behind a naked Loki and took him. Jenny watched as Loki moaned in pleasure at being fucked in the ass by this big beautiful bronzed man. Jenny's face twisted into horror. She watched as they walked on the beach together, and dined together, and wanted for nothing. It only got worse.

The images changed, showing Jenny destitute and haggard. She was scrubbing toilets and cleaning bedrooms for some large hotel chain during the day. At night she was sucking cock to help pay the rent. A man, presumably her pimp punched her in the face and knocked out a front tooth. It didn't get fixed. Her dead body was found stuffed under a hotel mattress, bloated and grey. The images flashed back and forth between a happy Loki and a miserably Jenny over and over again until something inside her snapped.

That was not going to happen to her. She was not going to end up like her mother! If her eyes could have possibly changed color in that moment, they would have been as green as Loki's. She ran from the room and looked down over the bannister. People were pouring out the front door. The party was over by the looks of it, or nearly. She sneaked her way to the library. She already knew what she was after. One of the books she helped Loki inventory appraised for over $50,000. With the right buyer it could go for more, especially at an auction focused on Civil War memorabilia. She climbed the ladder and snatched it off the shelf, grateful that there weren't any guests around to watch her. She hopped down off the last rung and almost left when she spotted the orb on the desk.

She walked to it as though floating on clouds. All her fears about being poor, abused, and unloved disappeared. This thing…this thing had the answer. It could give her what she needed, everything she'll ever need. She only needed to take it from this place. Her hand reached out for it when a familiar voice startled her.

"Jenny?" Julie spoke her name like a timid mouse. Jenny ran for it, leaving the orb in its cradle. She brushed past Julie and ran down the hall and out a side entrance seldom used by guests. A thin layer of snow crunched beneath her feet. It was the first snow of the year. Jenny ran for several dozen yards into the field behind the house until her lungs felt like they are on fire. She stopped to catch her breath. Out here, in the freezing night air and eerie quiet she had a moment of clarity.

"What the hell am I doing?" She looked at the book in her hands. Embarrassing Loki was one thing, but stealing? She'd never stolen anything in her life, and god knows she'd had her moments where she could have really benefited from a ham sandwich. She thought to turn back and put the book back on the shelf before Loki found out when she heard the sound of a dog growling behind her. She twisted her head back and looked down.

A big black dog of some unknown breed and green glowing eyes bore his teeth at her. Its saliva dripped like long shoe strings from its jowls. It snapped at her ankles and she fled, screaming as loud as she could. It chased her and nipped at her long skirts, tearing the fabric as she scrambled to get away. She ran, without thought or planning. She just ran straight ahead, with a vast expanse of clean white ground before her. She stepped onto something slippery and realized too late that she had run onto Maywood Pond and was now falling through the very thin ice.

The freezing cold felt like knives stabbing her all over every inch of her body. It took her breath away. She tried to swim back to the bank but the dog was there, keeping her from getting out of the water. The book slipped from her hand and sank to the bottom of the pond.

"Please! Please let me out! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She screamed, but the dog kept snarling and barking. Her giant dress dragged her down and her heart slowed. She tried again to escape the pond and was gifted with a gnarly dog bite on her hand. Frozen, bleeding, and losing the ability to think she closed her eyes and made her peace with god.

"Jesus I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

BAM!

The dog whimpered as a gunshot hits it in its side. Loki lowered the barrel of the .22 and placed the rifle carefully on the ground. The dog ran away towards the tree line, leaving a trail of blood behind it.

"Jenny!" Loki yelled.

"Loki…" Jenny's weak voice whispered. Loki charged into the water and pulled her out. He ripped off her heavy soaked dress and carried her all the way back to the house, ignoring his own freezing skin and pain. He got back to the house and set her down on the couch in the library near the fire. The house was empty now. The guests had all gone home.

"LLLL…oooo…kkkk…iiii" She stuttered as her teeth chattered from the cold. Loki tossed a couple more logs onto the fire in the fireplace.

"I'm going to get a blanket. I'll be right back." Loki said and ran downstairs to his private apartment. He returned within seconds and wrapped Jenny in the thick wool cloth. He held her then, rubbing her arms to warm her up.

"I'm…sssorry."

"Shh. Shh. It's alright. I'm sorry too."

"I was so mad at you, and you didn't do anything wrong." She cried into his shoulder, savoring his scent and warmth.

"We all make mistakes."

"I stole one of your books. I don't even know why…I just…I just didn't want to end up homeless on the streets. It's at the bottom of the pond. I ruined it."

"I don't care about the book." Loki said. He did care about the book but in the grand scheme of things he could let that go. He'd been ignoring his better judgement and instincts and he endangered his friend and half of the people in town with this stupid party.

"I'm sorry." She cried again. "Am I fired?"

"No, no, no. Do not dwell on it. I forgive you."

"That dog! I was so scared. I've never seen it before. I don't know where it came from."

"I think I killed it, or at least maim it a great deal. It won't come back." Loki said, not altogether sure if he was lying. That dog didn't look like any dog Loki had ever seen before. He was pretty certain it was not of this world.

"I ran upstairs and cried in the bathroom and that's when I imagined the worst things Loki!"

"What did you imagine dear heart?"

"It was wonderful at first. I imagined a life with you. We even had a son together. You loved me and I loved you and we were married and we lived in this big beautiful house. I had everything I needed and I wasn't worried about money or being alone."

"You said at first, what came after?"

"Then for some reason I imagined some big blonde guy fucking you and the two of you were really happy and I was a prostitute that died in the street." Her voice cracked and she bawled into his shoulder.

"A blonde man? What did he look like?" Loki's voice turned frantic. He hadn't dreamt of Thor in weeks.

"He was big, gorgeous actually. He had these really blue eyes and a perfect tan and a short scruffy beard. He looked like a body builder model or something."

"Thor."

"Who? Do you know a guy like that?"

"I know THE guy like that. How is it that you were able to imagine a man you've never seen?"

"I…I don't know. I was upset and crying and…I couldn't stop staring at myself in the mirror."

"The mirror?"

"Yes. My mascara was a mess."

"Did anything else happen? Anything weird?"

"No. Just the dog." Jenny said as she clung to her employer. Loki didn't know how, but he knew that those damned mirrors were to blame for this.


	15. Chapter 15

"Was this bite from a family pet?" The doctor asked. He'd have to report it if it was.

"No sir. We think it was a stray, possibly even feral. We aren't sure. I shot it but it got away."

"If you shot it, it is probably dead or dying then. If the bullet didn't kill it outright the infection will. If by some miracle it survives it will at least remember to steer clear of your property. Animals are smart like that."

"That is good to hear." Jenny said. Loki had his own insane theories which he kept to himself. The doctor pulled out a prescription pad and wrote for some pain medication and antibiotics.

"Here. Make sure you finish all of the antibiotics. Call me if you get a fever, rash, or any swelling."

"Yes doctor." Jenny said. The 45 minute drive to the nearest all night urgent care after a night of partying and drinking had exhausted them both. The time on the clock in the lobby read 3:33 am.

"Come on. I'll take you home. We can get your meds in the morning when the pharmacy opens." Loki said. The long drive home was hard and Loki turned on the air conditioning and aimed it straight at his face. He also had the radio tuned to some heavy metal music all in an effort to stay awake. Jenny didn't last five minutes into the ride. She zonked out, her head against the glass, drool oozing down her chin. As they approached Maywood, Loki shook Jenny awake to get directions to her turned red and her expression became anxious.

"Um, it's over on Hauser Street."

"Okay." As Loki made the turns towards Jenny's home the houses became smaller, older, and more ramshackle.

"It's on the end here. Number 818." She said. Loki looked. There were two houses on the end of the street and while neither looked appealing one was definitely worse than the other. The siding of the house was a cheap spackling that had greyed with age. The house looked filthy. The front lawn-well frankly there was no front lawn. It was a dirt lot. A withered and dead looking tree sat there in front of the house like a corpse. It's epitaph spoke of better times long since passed. Jenny reached reached for the door handle to let herself out of the car.

"Jenny wait." Loki said. Jenny turned her head back looking over her shoulder at him. It was plain she was mortified.

"Are you enrolled in college at all?" He asked. The question took Jenny by surprise.

"No. The nearest community college campus is an hour away. The nearest University is two hours. Even if I decided to move out and be on my own and take on a mountain of student loan debt I still couldn't leave."

"Why?"

"My dad injured his back on the job a couple years ago. Worker's comp paid for the surgery but he isn't the same. What happened to him shouldn't have happened. His old boss cut corners on safety. My dad could have sued but it would have meant months of waiting for a payoff that might never come. His old boss dangled a severance package in front on him in exchange for signing a non-litigation clause. The money kept us afloat for a while but now it's gone."

"What about Social Security?"

"They've denied him twice. They say he can still do other work, like a call center or something. But you know Maywood doesn't have anything like that out here."

"Does your dad own this place or do you rent?"

"We rent."

"Is your father making any money?"

"No." Her lip trembles.

"So who's paying the rent?"

"I am."

"Oh Jenny, I am sorry. I had no idea."

"It's not your fault, and besides, you gave me a raise. I can't tell you how much a difference that made to us."

"Jenny, listen to me. I'm going to take care of you. I'm giving you a scholarship."

"But I told you I can't leave-" She tried to interject but Loki put his hand up to silence her.

"Jenny I'm firing you. Tomorrow I'm going to make some calls to the Community College in Ashleyville and pay, in advance, for your next two years of classes. In addition I'm going to arrange housing for you and your father in Ashleyville which will also be paid in advance for the next four years. I'm also going to set you up with an account and send you a monthly stipend for living expenses. At the end of two years you will show me your transcripts and if I like what I see I will bank roll your two years at University for you to finish your Degree. You can major in anything you want, I recommend business. You are very good at it."

"What?"

"Jenny I can't let you keep working for me, not after all that's transpired tonight. I also can't cut you loose either. I count you as too good a friend to do that."

"But I'm a horrible friend! I embarrassed you. I stole from you. I outed you to the entire town!"

"You were my life line when I had none. You kept me sane when I wanted to curl in on myself. You made me join the human race when I had almost removed myself completely from it."

"But who will take care of you when I'm gone?" Jenny sobbed.

"Every man must learn to stand on his own two feet in all things at some point. I will have to make a concerted effort to have a social life."

"But…the money. What you are doing will cost so much money!"

"You're welcome sweetheart. You need to get to bed now. Go get some sleep and dream some nice dreams for once."

"Thank you." She hugged him, crying into his shoulder for a long moment. She eventually climbed out of the car and entered the front door of her hovel. Loki resolved to have her out of there by the end of the week.

XxXxXxXxXx

 _"Loki…" The desert echoed with Thor's voice. Loki looked around at the great expanse of sand, seeing no one and nothing._

 _"THOR!"_

 _"I'm lost…"_

 _"THOR!"_

 _"I can't see you…Where are you?"_

 _"Meet me in the bedroom. You can get there. I know you can."_

Loki sat up in bed, his breath heavy with anxiety. He hadn't dreamt of Thor in weeks. He took a few calming cleansing breaths to still his heart and clear his head. The clock on his night stand told him it was two in the afternoon. The house still needs to be cleaned up from the party the night before and he doesn't have Jenny to help him. He had a lot of work to do today.

The floor board of his bedroom creaked and shifted as though someone were walking upon it. Loki's hair stood on end and his eyes went wide with fear. The sound got closer and closer to the bed. When the mattress dipped from a heavy invisible weight Loki screamed and scrambled off his bed. The covers of his bed bunched and shifted down to the bottom and the dip in the mattress took on the silohoutte of a man. The bunched covers then slid back up covering the entity showing a clear outline of man's body. A very large man.

Trembling in fear, Loki spoke to it. "Th-Th-Thor?"

A disembodied sigh echoed through the room, followed by a ball of white blinding light the zipped up from the form on the bed and barreled straight at Loki.

"AHHHHHH!" Loki screamed, but the light passed through him and disappeared leaving in its wake a blast of smell. The lavender field after a rainstorm and sandalwood in the rose garden along with the unique musk the Loki only recognized in his dreams. It was Thor's smell.

XxXxXxXxXx

The thin layer of snow melted in the warm autumn sun. There was no trace of it when Loki went back out to the pond to retrieve his gun. In his haste to save Jenny he'd abandoned it on the ground. Loki scolded himself for not taking better care of such an important tool. The rifle saved Jenny's life last night, and possibly his. Loki looked to the tree line where the dog had escaped for refuge. Loki couldn't shake the feeling that dog could not have gone past the line of crushed mirror bordering the back field.

Loki bent over and collected up the remains of Jenny's prom dress as well. She did look amazing last night. If Loki had been straight he would have totally fucked her brains out. He turned towards the direction of the house which loomed large in the distance like a menace. Jenny was right to fear for his mental wellbeing. Without her around to pull him out of his fear and paranoia he would become easy prey for this place. Loki needed friends more than ever.

He went back to the house and started on the ballroom. Munching on leftovers for dinner in the fridge, he cleaned the whole first floor, finishing around midnight.

He flopped onto his bed ready to dream again. He hoped that tonight Thor would return. He'd avoided his room all day after the frightening incident earlier, but the knowledge that it had been Thor had been both saddening and comforting. But Loki worried that somehow Thor was mixed up in these terrible events that were hurting his guests and friends. He feared more than anything that somehow Thor was responsible.


	16. Chapter 16

The move for Jenny and her father turned out to be rather simple. They had very few possessions, having sold anything of real value a long time ago. They didn't even own a television. Everything they had fit into the back of Loki's pickup truck. Jenny's father struck Loki as a broken man. His back brace and slow shuffle spoke of a deep injury. His downward cast eyes were filled with wounded pride. He thanked Loki in a quiet voice but said little during the commute. It was just as well.

After getting Jenny settled, Loki returned home to his hotel message board that was full of reservation requests from the local townspeople. Loki canceled them all. He knew he would never forgive himself if one more person came to harm while in this house. He'd made the decision to shut down the business aspect of his home. He thought long and hard about whether or not to sell, but found he did not want to leave yet, not without seeing Thor again at least once. Furthermore he did not want any future owners to come to harm either. No, he would not sell. He would remain until he figured out how to make these bad omens stop.

At night his dreams of Thor were filled with his disembodied voice whispering on the wind, panicked and desperate to be reunited with Loki.

 _"Loki…"_

 _"Thor! Where are you?!"_

 _"It's dark here. The children won't let me out."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"They are doing as they are told. Help me!"_

 _"How?"_

 _"Find me…"_

 _"Thor! Thor!" Loki cried out to the wind of the desert. He looked around and saw nothing and no one. He looked up in the sky and could not see a sun anywhere though the sky was blue. He put one foot in front of the other and began walking, not knowing if his chosen path would lead him anywhere. He filled his mind with Thor hoping that focusing on him would somehow unite them. The moments ticked by feeling like an eternity._

 _Loki then thought of the things Thor said whenever he managed to transport them from one location to another in his dreams._

 _"I think of where I want to be and then I am there." He changed tactics. If thinking of the man did not take him to him, then perhaps thinking of the places where he might be would work. Loki thought of the purple field of flowers and suddenly he was there._

 _The sky was red and everything had shadows and darkness. He looked down at the purple flowers beneath his feet._

 _"AH!" Loki jumped. The flowers tilted their heads up towards him and hissed at him. More unnerving was what he saw in the distance. Like a dark nightmare version of the emerald city, Loki's house sat in the distance; a black malignancy on the blood red landscape. On the edge of the horizon Loki could see the boundaries of this world. The mirror line was the beginning and end of this flat earth hell. Beyond the border lay the desert and blue sky. Thor's domain._

 _"If he's not out there then he is in here. I will find you." Loki muttered. The sound of a horse whinny behind him grabbed his attention and Loki turned. A large purple stallion with red glowing eyes stared at him._

 _"He's in there somewhere. Isn't he?" He said to the horse. A loud roar blew hot breath across Loki's cheek and he turned back to see the great bear, a twisted sinister grizzly creature towering over him, ready to strike. It's great big paw rose up to swat Loki down._

 _"Go to hell!"_

Loki sat up, drenched in sweat. These creatures could not harm him, though he could tell they wanted to.

"Fuck!" He jumped out of bed. His adrenaline pumping from the nightmare. He grabbed a bottle of booze and drank straight from it, letting the alcohol calm his nerves. Wherever Thor was, he was in peril but why? Loki thought back to the last time he dreamt about Thor. It was right before he tried to destroy the orb. He couldn't help wondering if he was being punished.

He sat down on his bed and felt the tears coming. He worried for Thor and that harm would come to him for what he tried to do. He clutched his rosary in one hand while holding his mother's locket, the alabaster amulet in the other and began to pray.

"Dear God, I pray for the safety of Thor's soul, of mine, and of all who have ever come under this roof. Please help me. I'm afraid and I'm out of my depth here. Amen." Loki sat there for several minutes breathing deep and taking comfort in the artifacts of his faith and family. He thought of his mother and how much he loved her. He thought of Thor and of the hopes he knew would go unfulfilled. He was pulled from his meditation by the sound of a floorboard creaking in his room. Loki's eyes popped open.

"Thor?" The creaking stopped. "Baby can you see me? Can you hear me? If you can turn the lights on and off." Loki waited.

The floorboards creaked again and for a moment all was silent….and then….click. The lights went out. Then on. Then off. On. Off. On. Off. On…Loki's gleeful grin spread ear to ear as he sobbed in relief. The clicking stopped and the light came on.

"Thor?" Loki's voice trembled with hope and fear. "I've missed you so much! Can you talk to me? Or maybe come and sit beside me?" Loki's heart pounded in his chest. He had no way of knowing if this was Thor or some other malevolent spirit in the house. He held his breath as the creaking began again.

He gasped when the mattress dipped beside him. Loki closed his eyes afraid, but he did not flee. Come what may he would be reunited with Thor one way or another. He felt breath on his skin and breathed in, not realizing he'd been hold it. The smell of rain and ozone filled his nostrils and Loki sobbed, knowing it was really him. He felt something brush against his cheek and wipe a tear away. He opened his eyes but still saw nothing. He felt fingertips rake down his chest and his breath hitched. He reached for the invisible hand causing the sensation but was met only with air. A wayward strand of hair in his face moved of its own accord and tucked itself behind his ear.

"Oh Thor. I've been so worried. I'm still worried. You're trapped in that dark place aren't you?" Loki cried and he felt the palm of a large strong hand ghost up his bicep. His hair moved, as though pulled to the side and he felt unseen lips nuzzle his throat.

"Oh Thor…" Loki shifted back up the bed to lie back. He pulled off his boxers and stretched out naked, giving up his body as an offering. Loki gasped when he felt the weight of an entire human body covering his own. He felt lips on his and opened his mouth to taste the ghost tongue that massaged his. Loki reached up instinctively to wrap his fingers in golden hair, but again grasped nothing. Each time he tried to initiate contact it disrupted the sensation of Thor's touch. Loki learned quickly that he could not reciprocate. He could not give pleasure, only take it.

"Oh my love. Take what you need from me. All that I have is yours Thor. I want to please you." Loki spread his legs and bent his knees exposing his entrance for penetration. Loki felt a mouth on his cock and howled at the otherworldly feeling. He was getting a blow job from the invisible man. He watched his cock in fascination as it moved and was manipulated in the air by an invisible mouth and throat. He fingers dug into the comforter on his bed as he panted and made a hilarious orgasm face.

"Oh Thor!" Loki's dick twitched and his balls drew up. When he came his ejaculate hung suspended in the air, as if collecting in a transparent throat before dropping down and soiling Loki's bed.

"Take me Thor! Fill me. Fill me with whatever you can give me love. I belong to you darling!" Loki mewled as he came down from his high. He felt fingers circling his tight ring. "Ooh!" Loki moaned. The breach came and Loki felt two large calloused digits scissoring him open. He felt a wet substance filling him and yelped in surprise. For a moment his body tensed up but Loki forced himself to relax, realizing what was happening.

The feeling of Thor's fingers returned. There were three this time. "That's it darling! Make me stretch! Make me gape! I want to see what I look like inside when you stretch me open." Loki felt the loss of the fingers and he growled at the air above him. He stopped when he felt something smooth, large, and blunt nudge at his hole. He braced himself.

"OH THOR!" Loki yelled when something very large and meaty spread him apart. Loki's hands scrambled for something to hold, eventually grabbing the pillow on which Loki's head rested. As Thor set a brutal pace Loki watched as his entrance stretched, and bobbed, and clenched with the movement of the ghost dick that fucked him. Loki felt Thor pounding that beautiful spot inside that made his vision go white over and over again.

"Oh God baby! I want to hold you! I want to suck your dick Thor! Oh! I love you! I want to make love to you! Oh God! Oh baby!" Loki couldn't help the tears in his eyes. He felt so much. He wanted so much. The speed picked up and Loki wondered absently if Thor was able to actually come inside him. He would certainly welcome it.

"I want to be with you! Sssahhh! Oh god!" Loki keened as his cock splashed his seed across his stomach. The movement inside him sped up and became erratic and then...

BOOM!

The bright ball of light appeared filling the room with a flash before disappearing and leaving Loki alone. He sat up, feeling bereft and in need of someone to hold.

"Thor?" He listened but he could tell there was no one there. Any sense of any kind of presence was gone. "I love you Thor. Do you hear me? I love you." He curled up into a ball on his bed, nuzzling his pillow which was a poor substitute for the real thing.


	17. Chapter 17

A week passed and Loki did not have another dream about Thor. After sitting alone in his house for seven days, sleeping, watching television, and listening to the sounds of the house he'd had enough. He needed human contact and Jenny was not there to force him to socialize, and so he knew he had to do it himself. It was Wednesday and Loki decided to attend the local Bible study group in the church's basement.

It was awkward to say the least, being surrounded by people that knew of his sexual appetites. However, the people smiled at him and the topic of conversation stuck to the lesson for the evening. The topic was temptation.

"Now Matthew mentions temptation many times. There are the three temptations: Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. These are the three temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness by Satan. Now open your books…" The Reverend pulled out his yellow highlighter. The others did the same. Loki felt embarrassed and woefully unprepared as he did not bring his own. A nice old lady sitting next to him took pity on him, loaning him one of hers. He noticed that nearly everyone in the room was at least 15 years his senior.

"Small is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Now this passage has been interpreted in numerous ways but the meaning is the same. The inverse of this is, long is the way and narrow is the path that leads up towards righteousness and few there be that find it. In what aspects of your daily lives can you think of how you have been tempted? Anyone? Loki? How about you?" Reverend McDowell pointed at him, hoping to engage the new guy.

"Oh…ah…well…" Loki's cheeks flushed pink.

"No pressure. You're just being watched by a room full of strangers all waiting on pins and needles to hear your eloquent response." The Reverend said as he leaned in close to Loki. The effect was comedic. Loki and everyone else chuckled, relieving the tension.

"I know a lot about temptation actually. When my parents died I was left with a huge life insurance pay out plus a very large trust fund. I could have gone a numbers of bad ways with that. I was orphaned and even though I did have a family, my parent's friends took me in, I still felt adrift."

"I imagine being a teenager with no parents and a fat bank account was a huge temptation indeed. So what did you do about it?"

"Grieving like I was I wanted to drown in drugs and alcohol but I had already gone through that while in high school. My father found pot in my room a week before their deaths and threatened to ship me off to military school. They were still debating it when they died. I haven't touched the stuff since."

"That is commendable Loki and I applaud you for honoring your parent's memories. Who else wants to share?" The Reverend asked. Others responded but Loki did not listen, lost in his thoughts. The lesson continued on and at the end as Loki tried to leave the Reverend caught him.

"May I speak with you before you go?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I heard about what you did for Jenny and her dad. It was no small thing."

"You were right to recommend her to me. She was an exemplary employee."

"Yes well, everyone is talking about the incident at the party. I know that some of the people in this town are very old fashioned about certain things but please know you'll not be shunned or lectured to here. I'm more of the opinion that God made you as you are, and that is fine."

"Oh…OH! Um…thank you. That is reassuring."

"Well now that the weirdness has been addressed I wanted to ask you how business is going?"

"I'm shutting down the Bed and Breakfast. It's not for me."

"That is a terrible shame. I know of several people that were disappointed when their reservations were cancelled. Will you be selling the estate?"

"No. I think I will continue living there if only for the time being."

"Did the shutdown have anything to do with that priest dying in your home?"

"You don't miss much do you Reverend?"

"Being observant is my most important skill."

"Yes, in part. That and the woman that died earlier in the summer, and then Jenny being chased by that dog and falling into the icy pond. Bad things keep happening in my home."

"Jenny did not mention the dog or the pond. I had no idea that that had happened!"

"Her right hand required four stitches." Loki said. The Reverend winced.

"Well I'm glad you came to Bible study tonight. It was good for you to get out of that big house and be with people."

"Jenny told you to keep tabs on me didn't she?"

"She sure did."

"Thank you Reverend. I'll see you Sunday."

XxXxXxXxXx

As November pressed on Loki continued in a drought of Thor-less dreams. He continued going to Sunday services and Bible study groups in town. As Thanksgiving approached Loki longed to be in the company of friends and family. Since he didn't dare let anyone stay in his home he knew he'd have to make the trek to New York City to spend the holiday with the Starks.

"Hello?" Emily answered her phone.

"Hey gorgeous, got room for one more at the Thanksgiving Dinner table?"

"EEEEE! Oh my god! Yes! I miss you so much! I can't wait to see you." Emily said.

"How are your parents doing? And how is Daniel?"

"They are fine I guess. Daniel says mom has been drinking a lot though and my dad has been spending more hours late at the office but such is life on Wall Street. Nothing new. Daniel has been staying late at the office with him so at least I know it's not an affair."

"Yeah, that is good news. Will you meet me at the train station on Wednesday?"

"Hell yeah!"

"I'll see you then sweetheart."

"Ooh, sweetheart! Maybe Christmas will come early for me….or on me?"

"Dirty girl. Love you. See you in a couple of days."  
"Bye…."

"Bye." Loki hung up the phone. It was the first genuine smile he'd had in days.

XxXxXxXx

"Will!"

"Grace! I mean beard! I mean girl I'd totally fuck if I were straight!" Loki yelled. People give the two weird looks as they embrace on the platform.

"You could close your eyes and pretend I'm someone else." Emily batted her eyelashes at him.

"Don't tempt me." Loki giggled. He draped his arm over her shoulder and they walked together to the street curb to hail a cab. They laughed at each other as they rode back to the Stark apartment. Loki remembered how the real estate vultures had circled around him when his parent's obituaries hit the newspaper. The worst incident was when a couple was out apartment hunting had knocked on his door to ask him if it was for sell yet. Mr. Stark had given the couple an earful as Loki ran to his room to cry. The apartment fell into probate and the bank sold it with record speed. His childhood home now belonged to someone else.

They arrived at their building and Loki flung his overnight bag over his shoulder and tipped the cabbie generously. The ride up to the penthouse was long but filled with sentiment and the warmth of comradery. The atmosphere of the Stark apartment however was not. The hair on the back of Loki's neck stood up. Emily's too, if her frown was anything to judge by.

"Emily!" Pepper came running up to her daughter, a glass of rum and coke clinking her hand. They hugged and Loki noted the dark purple bags under Pepper's eyes. She looked sick. Pepper turned her gaze to Loki and she stretched a fake smile across her face and greeted him.

"Loki. Good to see you. I'm glad you're here for the holiday."

"Me too Mrs. Stark."

"Well, come on in and unload your luggage. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes." Loki and Emily nodded and said nothing as they headed back to Loki's old room which now had the impersonal air of a generic guest room. None of Loki's possessions remained. Emily shut the door behind her.

"Emily what is wrong with your mother?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen my folks since school started two months ago. We've talked on the phone but I didn't know she looked like that."

"What do you think it is? I'm worried about her drinking."

"Me too. Something happened. Something had to have happened for her to look like that."

"Have you seen your father yet?"

"No. Do you think he'll know what is going on?"

"Won't know until we assess them at dinner. What about Daniel? Is he going to be here tonight?"

"No, not until tomorrow. He's working late at the office again."

"On the night before Thanksgiving?"

"I'm surprised dad isn't there too." Emily said. Pepper's voice rang out as she called the children to supper. Loki and Emily filed out of the room and took their seats at the dinner table.

"Loki! Hey my man how are you!" Mr. Stark said with an exuberance that came across as phony.

"I'm good Mr. Stark."

"Oh come now. That's not what I heard."

"What did you hear?" Loki asked growing worried.

"I heard that your guests keep dying at your house. Want to tell us about it?"

"Tony!" Pepper admonished him as Emily shot Loki a horrified look.

"How did you find out about those? I never told you."

"I read the paper Loki."

"Yeah but it's not like the stories headlined the New York Times."

"No but the local news posted a story online. You want to tell us about it?" Tony asked. Loki most certainly did not want to tell them about what has been happening, but it at least explained their weird behavior.

"There was an accident. One of my very first guests was hit by a car on the road right in front of my house. It turned out the woman had been abusing her adopted son. Then there was a priest I invited to dinner. He had a stroke while trying to bless the house and died at the hospital."

"Oh my god! Why didn't you call me you asshole!" Emily glared at Loki.

"I didn't want all of you to worry or discourage me from pursuing the business."

"Loki! That is a terrible excuse. You know better! I'm your friend god damn it!" Emily yelled at him.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could explain why I didn't tell you but saying my excuses out loud sounds…"

"Stupid. Really fucking stupid." Emily said. "Aren't you guys going to say something?" Emily looked at her parents then.

"You know Loki you should really draft a will. I know you haven't. It's not something a 22 year old thinks about, but it's something you need to do."

"What? Dad what the fuck?"

"He's right honey. Loki's seen enough death to know that he should have one."

"I…suppose?" Loki is baffled by their response. They're right. He doesn't have a will but like Emily said, what the fuck?

"Well, let's eat before the food starts getting cold." Pepper says as she takes a big gulp of her chardonnay.

"Mom? Are you okay? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"What? No honey. Why would you think that?" Pepper displays another unconvincing smile that does not reach her eyes.

"Cut the bullshit mom. Are you guys getting a divorce or something? Is that what this is?"

"What? No! No honey your mom and I aren't getting a divorce." Mr. Stark interrupts.

"Then what is going on? What is wrong with you two? Dad your hair is fucking white!"

"Honey I'm getting old. It happens."

"Bullshit."

"Emily!"

"Don't Emily me! You're keeping a secret from me. What is it? Mom are you dying? Do you have cancer or something?"

"No. Honey. I… I'm fine."

"Fine. Don't tell me. I'm not hungry. I'm going to my room." Emily stormed away expecting Loki to follow, but he lingered. He had his own concerns to address.

"You two look like you haven't been sleeping at night. Any nightmares?" Loki asked. Pepper and Tony both looked at one another, guilt written all over their faces.

"How long have you been having them Mr. Stark?" Loki pressed.

"I don't know…um… a few weeks." He admitted.

"Since spending the night in my house during my parent's death anniversary?" Loki leaned forward. Mr. Stark swallowed hard.

"What is it you think you know Loki?" He bristled defensively as if ready to attack Loki verbally.

"I know that bad things keep happening to my guests. They've seen things in the mirrors and had dreams that made them do things out of character, or perhaps in character, but horrific all the same."

Tony and Pepper both laughed loud and giddy as though they were expecting something else entirely to come out of his mouth. It only confused Loki more. The hysterical desperate laughter ended abruptly and Mr. Stark leaned towards Loki.

"What? Like the house is haunted or something? You know Loki, you could probably make all those bad spirits go away if you gave me that desk ornament of yours."

"Desk ornament. Right. I'll have to remember that the next time I visit. I'm not hungry either. I think I'll save it up for tomorrow."

"Sure Loki. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Mr. Stark."


	18. Chapter 18

Daniel arrived the following morning at about 10 am carrying a giant pumpkin pie.

"Oh good! You brought it." Pepper said with relief.

"I told you I would mom." He kissed her on the cheek. Loki and Emily left to watch the parade, wanting to avoid another family squabble over their mysterious behavior.

"Mom, you don't look so good."

"I'm just tired honey. I didn't sleep well last night. How are things with you? Your father says you are doing well at the company." Pepper said. Daniel pressed his lips into a thin line and he wondered just how much she knew about how his dad achieved financial success over the years.

"I'm trying to make you proud." He said.

"You are baby." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and returned her attention to the potatoes she was peeling. She didn't cook often. In fact she only cooks during the holidays, the rest of the year Consuela does it.

"Can I help with anything?"

"Yeah, you can get started on mincing the celery and onion."

"Okay." They worked in silence, focused on their respective tasks, but Daniel's mind wandered. The things he did at work with his father…he's ashamed. Daniel looked down at the knife he held. It was expensive. He looked at the television in the living room of their penthouse apartment. The kitchen counter was made of some of the nicest rarest marble available.

"Mom?"

"Yeah honey?"

"Nothing. Um celery is done."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Loki and Emily returned to the apartment around 2pm, just in time for dinner. The game played and Daniel and Tony kicked back on the sofa with beers in hand. Loki felt torn between joining them or joining Emily and Pepper who were washing dishes.

"Hey Loki! Get your ass in here!" Daniel yelled. Loki decided he'd have to pay his respects to feminism another time. The atmosphere improved with Daniel present. Mr. Stark avoided looking in Loki's direction and focused on the game. Loki did the same. He got about half a bottle of beer in him when he heard the loud clanking of dishes and pots in the kitchen followed by fevered mumbling.

"What is wrong with you?! How can you ask me to do that?!" Emily stormed out of the kitchen back to her bedroom and slammed the door. Loki arose from his seat.

"I'll go check on her." He said.

"No! No, no! It's fine. It's a private problem Loki. I'll go talk to her." Pepper said and hightailed it to her daughter's room. Loki frowned but he didn't want to stir the pot any more than it already was. Sooner or later the truth would come out. He continued watching the game and then two movies, grazing on leftovers the entire evening. Emily was still hiding in her room. He got up to go to the bathroom and made a detour by her bedroom door.

"Emily?" He knocked.

"Go away Loki."

"I'm coming in." Loki opened the door and closed it quickly behind him.

"What do you want?"

"To comfort my friend. Emily what is going on? I have a feeling your parents let you in on some sort of secret and now you're keeping it from me."

"I'm thinking about dropping out of school. I'm not getting good grades anyway."

"Emily you can't do that. You can't mooch off your parents for the rest of your life and without a degree you'll be stuck making minimum wage and waiting for mommy and daddy to die. That's no way to live."

"Mom and Dad are cutting me off at the end of the semester. Dad's diverting my college fund to more worthy endeavors."

"What? How bad are your grades?"

"D's and F's."

"Oh Emily."

"I need a job. Mom and Dad aren't going to pay my credit card bills anymore." Emily said. Loki felt torn. His first instinct was to let her come live and work with him, but it would just be Jenny all over again, only Emily would not clean as well.

"I'm sorry Emily, but don't be sad. This could be good for you. You didn't really want to major in business anyway. Maybe now you can figure out what you really want to do with your life."

"I want to be a rich trophy wife." She said without a hint of humor.

"Emily, you are capable of so much more than that."

"No I'm not! I like living this lifestyle and I hate working. I exercise two hours a day and eat like a starving Ethiopian kid to keep looking this good. I like having $500 purses and wearing the latest fashions and living in large expensive homes. I don't want to spend 16 hours a day in a gray cubicle crunching numbers at my daddy's firm."

"Emily, that's no way to live either. You can't spend your life dependent on others."

"What do you know about it?! You're a trust fund baby too you hypocrite! Get out! Just get out!" Emily plopped back down into her pillow and sobbed. Loki left her room and decided it was definitely time for him to leave.

"Loki? Are you okay?" Pepper asked looking nervous.

"I'm fine. Look, I need to go. I'm going to take the train back to Maywood tonight."

"No, Loki. Not on Thanksgiving! Just stay the night tonight and then go in the morning." Pepper said.

"I can't. I thank you for the lovely meal Mrs. Stark. It was wonderful."

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki busied himself with decorating the entire house with Christmas decorations inside and out. He didn't care if he would be the only one to see the inside and appreciate his handiwork. He was doing it for him. He needed the cheer. He hadn't talked to the Starks since leaving New York. That was a week ago. He hadn't had any dreams of Thor either and his frustration mounted. He busied himself with shoveling snow and hanging fairy lights. His home became a popular stop for people in town admiring the display.

Another week went by. No Thor. Loki became desperate. Loki contemplated doing something risky. Everyone that has slept in the upstairs rooms, Victoria, Mr. Mullens, Mr. Williams, The Starks, they all displayed strange behavior after a night of sleeping in one of the upstairs rooms. Jenny didn't sleep in the bathroom, but then again she'd been exposed to the mirrors day after day. So why hadn't he gone mad like the others?

He needed to see Thor again. Needed to find him, save him from whatever hell he was trapped in. He decided, he would sleep in the Antoinette room and face what the others had faced, for good or ill. He dressed in his green boxers and nothing else, removing his mother's locket and placing it on the side table by the bed. He turned out the light and closed his eyes and he waited.

He opened his eyes when he sensed a soft glow of light in his room. The mirror was alight with soft candlelight. Loki got up out of bed and walked to the mirror as though approaching a predator, careful and slow. In the reflection he saw his heart's desire, Thor sitting on the bed waiting for him. His back was to Loki in the mirror and Loki yelled his name.

"Thor!" The blonde man did not budge.

"Thor turn around. I'm right here! Look at me!" But still the blonde man had his back to Loki. "You can't hear me can you?" Loki decided to take the risk and walked into the looking glass. Loki looked around and noticed small details that told him this was the lover's room he had frequented so many times before. He walked closer to the bed admiring the muscled bronzed backside of his love.

"Thor." Loki's voice rang with hope and joy. The man turned and that was when Loki realized he was not Thor. He looked like Thor. He was the same height, same build, same hair, and even had blue eyes but he was not Thor.

"Who are you?" Loki's voice squeaked with fear and trepidation.

"Who do you want me to be? I can be anyone you want handsome." He stood and pulled off the towel hiding his waist and his great beautiful cock sprang forth erect and leaking.

"Oh…um…I'm sorry if my coming here gave you the wrong idea but I'm looking for someone else." Loki tried to back up.

"Maybe it's not my cock you want then. Perhaps you'd like to feel the pleasure of being the one doing the fucking for a change? You still haven't put your cock in anyone have you?"

"How do you know that? I haven't told anyone that."

"You reek of purity." The man got on the bed on all fours and arched his ass at Loki. It was a beautiful sight. His hole was shiny from some sort of lubricant, gaping, and ready to be fucked. He looked over his shoulder at Loki. "Come on. You know you want to."

Loki felt his cock respond though his head was screaming "No!" He walked towards the bed and the stranger, admiring the view. He got within arm's length but stopped.

"I can't. I'm in love with someone else and you're not him. I'm sorry." The man flipped around and grabbed Loki's wrist in an iron grip so fast Loki barely registered that it happened.

"What are you doing? Let me go." Loki commanded. But the Not-Thor just smiled at him and Loki watched as he transformed into a she, looking very much like Jenny, but not quite.

"Perhaps this is what you prefer then?" She smiled coyly and then leaned back and spread her legs, giving Loki a full view of her glistening pussy. She still had his wrist in a vice grip and guided it towards her womanhood.

"Let go!"

"Fuck me!" She hissed.

"No! I said let go you stupid bitch! I don't want to fuck you!" Loki snarled. His hand was at her entrance and that was when Loki saw the teeth and fangs there, hidden by her labia. Her pussy snapped at his hand and tried to bite his fingers off. Loki used his free hand then to punch the sex demon in the face.

She let go and he turned to flee. She roared at him and Loki could hear the roar coming from both mouths, her upper one and her lower one which was still snapping like crocodile. Loki ran to the mirror to get back to the other side but was trapped. He punched the glass again and again in frustration as the creature closed the distance between them.

Loki turned, his back against the glass wall. Horns like a bull were growing out of her head and her face transformed into a disgusting cow she beast. Her fingers were elongated into razor sharp claws, and her genitalia was even more split. The clear fluid leaking out from between her legs was saliva, secreted by her monster snatch.

"Go fuck yourself." Loki said. It roared at him and made to charge. Loki closed his eyes and looked away expecting to die.

"Leave him alone!" Thor yelled. Loki opened his eyes to see his love fighting the she beast, grabbing her by the horns and punching her in the face over and over again. Thor dragged the demon to a door on the other side of the room.

"Go Loki! Run now!" Thor yelled. Loki fell backwards through the mirror and was back in the Antoinette room. He ran to his bed and grabbed his mother's locket and then out of the room, down the stairs into the basement. He locked the door behind him and pulled he covers up over himself, clutching the locket while hyperventilating.


	19. Chapter 19

It wasn't just a nightmare. Loki awoke in his own bed. That didn't make sense. He went to sleep in the Antoinette room not his room. The only way he could have gotten down here is if he sleep walked. He knows he had a nightmare but he also dreamt of Thor too. Loki got up. His mind was foggy and he thought perhaps a cup of coffee could clear things away.

His mother's locket was still in his right hand when he opened his eyes this morning. He put it on around his neck where it belonged. He hopped into the shower and then got dressed before heading upstairs for that magic Columbian roasted elixir of life. The house was silent as always. Everything tidy. He poured his favorite flavored creamer into his cup, peppermint mocha, and leaned against the kitchen counter as he sipped.

He knew he dreamed of Thor but it hadn't been pleasant, or it had, but brief. Something bad happened but he couldn't remember. Loki wracked his brain, deciding that he would go and investigate the room for clues when a police car rolling up his driveway pulled him from his inner turmoil. The officer stepping out of the car was familiar. It was officer Muldowney, the cop that responded to Victoria's death and took Joseph into his custody. Loki wondered if this was a social call for something more official. He met the man at the door.

"Officer Muldowney. I'd say welcome back but the last time you paid a visit it was under gruesome circumstances. How is Joseph?"

"He's part of the reason I'm here. He's doing great actually but there are some things I need to ask you."

"Sure of course. Come on in." Loki guided the officer into the parlor to have a seat. "Would you like some coffee?"

"No thanks. I'm good."

"So what can I do for you?" Loki sat down.

"Well in the past four months there have been four deaths in this sleepy little town. Averaging one per month is not typical for us."

"No I imagine not. Two of them happened here."

"Yes well, that's the thing. The other two have connections with this place as well."  
"What?"

"Mr. Laufeyson do you recall having a couple of guests by the name of Edward Mullens or Harold Williams?"

"Yes they both stayed here in my home. You're telling me they are dead?"

"Yes." Muldowney said. Loki's hands flew to his face in shock and tears welled up in his eyes.

"How?" He swallowed hard as horrific scenarios danced through his head.

"Well Mr. Mullens was found in his mother's home dead and buried under a pile of stuff. The guy was a hoarder. The place was filthy and infested with all kinds of vermin but what was really unnerving was what we found in the basement."

"What did you find?"

"His mother's body in a freezer. The freezer stopped working and her body was rotting. None of the neighbors had seen her in weeks and they all said that her son had shipped her off to a nursing home, which was believable given her age. But he was hiding the fact that she died so he could keep collecting her pension checks."

"Oh dear God!" Loki let the horror sink in for a moment before he dared to ask the next question. "How did Mr. Williams die?"

"He starved to death. Damnedest thing too. His family showed up at his place on Thanksgiving to check on him. His wife died a couple years back and they didn't have kids of their own so his nieces and nephews have been checking on him. Anyway they found his body face down in the bathroom. His refrigerator was empty, his cupboards were empty, and his freezer was empty. They guy had lost like 100lbs. I wanted to chalk it up to financial problems but the guy had plenty of money."

"What? He was such a sweet man! And he loved to eat. I made him surf and turf of steak and lobster at his request while he was here. He ate everything and asked for seconds."

"That might very well have been his last meal." Officer Muldowney said. He watched Loki's facial expressions as he dished out each detail. Loki responded how any normal horrified person would. The tears were real.

"Oh God I'm so sorry! I should never have bought this stupid house." He sobbed into his lap.

"Mr. Laufeyson, I know about the priest that had the stroke here. Is there anyone else that has come to harm while under this roof?"

"Yes. My housekeeper Jenny. A feral dog chased her into the pond out back and forced her into the frigid water. I had to shoot it to save her. It limped away. Officer, is there something wrong with Joseph?"

"That is the question. My wife and I have put in a formal petition to the court to adopt Joseph. He really is a wonderful kid and my wife and I love him to pieces. We've gotten him lots of help. He sees a child psychiatrist regularly for the abuse he suffered from Victoria and from the system as a whole. He has nightmares pretty regularly but they have been getting less severe and less frequent."

"But…"

"But there is one thing that Joseph still does that unnerves my wife."

"What is that?"

"He keeps breaking the mirrors in our house. He's afraid of them. He told us about a nightmare he had the night before Victoria died here in this house."

"What did he see?"

"He said a little white boy, and by white I mean WHITE white. Like an albino. He said the boy tried to drag him into the mirror."

"Tried?"

"Yeah. He said the voice of an angel told him to go back to bed. He said she made the little boy go away. He said he dreams about her sometimes."

"He does? What does she look like? Does she have a name?"

"Joseph said that the lady he dreams about at night is your mother." Loki's vision began to blacken and then the meager contents of his stomach gushed out onto the floor before he succumbed to unconsciousness.

He awoke with a start.

"Easy there. You passed out. You've been down about five minutes."

"Officer Muldowney, are you aware of my family history?"

"I did some digging yeah. I know your mother is dead and that she was albino too and that she and your father were murdered."

"You think I had something to do with all of their deaths."

"I don't know. I don't know what the hell is going on in this house. I heard you stopped taking reservations. You mind telling me why?"

"Because I think something is going on in this house too. That's why I brought Father Sheldon here to bless the house."

"And he had a stroke."

"Yes."

"The previous owner of this house disappeared without a trace. Mr. Laufeyson, if I were you I run as far away from this house as I could get."

"I'll take it under consideration."

"Merry Christmas Mr. Laufeyson."

"Merry Christmas Mr. Muldowney." Loki walked the man to the front door and watched him as he pulled out of the driveway and the disappeared down the street. The minute he was out of view Loki bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time to inspect the Antoinette room.

He barged into the room expecting…something. Something terrifying that he could not name. He only found an unmade bed and no signs of foul play. But Loki knew from experience to check the mirror and like the others it was slightly ajar. Loki pushed the mirror open and entered into the secret hallway to search for answers.

What he saw directly across from him filled his heart with terror. In the painting on the opposite wall was the field of purple flowers. Where before it had been an empty field, there was now a purple horse with red glowing eyes trampling a woman that looked very much like Victoria. Loki went down the hall to look at the others. In the painting that belonged to the one bathroom that had a mirror was a dog, THE dog that Loki shot that night attacking Jenny; but Jenny was not in the painting. The next painting, however, shook Loki to the core. It was Mr. Williams in the middle of a great serving tray with an orange in his mouth. He was bound up like a roasted turkey about to be served, and the creature feed upon him was a ghastly boar with great big tusks, red glowing eyes, and an evil countenance.

"No! Oh God no!" Loki ran further down the hall and saw Mr. Mullens depicted in a pit of vipers and filth. The paintings for the red room and gold room were empty still. But that was only six paintings. There were seven. Loki turned and looked back down at the end of the hall. The one painting he hadn't seen yet was of the room from whence he came. The blue room. He ran down the hall to look upon the painting about the lover's bed. He grabbed the edge of the frame and turned it to see.

A blue cow beast was displayed, angry, but alone. Memories of his experience from the night before came flooding back. Loki jumped through the hole in the wall made by the turning mirror, afraid of being trapped again. Once back in the Antoinette room Loki marched out the door and ran down back down the stairs to relative safety.

In spite of his terror one glaring detail stood out above all others. Thor wasn't in any of the paintings.


	20. Chapter 20

_"Loki."_

 _"Thor?" Loki looked at his love with great relief. They were in the purple field of flowers, only unlike past dreams with Thor where the sky was blue, now it was red and the flowers were menacing. Thor sat beside a campfire and there was something roasting on a stick. Thor rose from the rock on which he sat and pulled Loki into a full embrace._

 _"I did not think I would see you again." They hugged each other hard for a long time before letting go._

 _"Thor what is going on? Why haven't I been able to dream about you? And what are these creatures doing to the people that have come into my home?" Loki asked._

 _"I want to escape this place, but I can't figure out how. Every time I think I get close, I wind up back in the desert watching Ernie die all over again."_

 _"But what has been keeping us apart?"_

 _"The dark man."_

 _"Thor who is the dark man? Is it Maywood?"_

 _"He's the one that manipulates the children. They have to do what he wants. The children don't like hurting people, but he controls them. The children try to help me when they can. Sometimes they get punished for doing so. "_

 _"Why is the dark man collecting people?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"Thor, how is it that you are trapped here?"_

 _"I wish I knew. I've missed you so much Loki. I feared I would never see you again or worse, that you would be trapped here like the others and forced to do the dark man's deeds."_

 _"To what end though?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"You have to know SOMETHING Thor!"_

 _"I try! I cannot think or focus in this place, except when I think about you or Ernie. The people I love are the only things that let me keep a coherent thought."_

 _"How is it that you were able to get to me the other day? How did you know I needed help?"_

 _"An angel came. She was beautiful. She guided me through that dark place to you. I usually only see her when I'm watching you. She follows you around the house."_

 _"How is it that you can watch me?"_

 _"Like this." Thor pulls out a disk from his pocket. At first Loki thinks it to be a pocket watch or a make-up compact, but it is actually a compass. Inside the compass, was a mirror. He opened it up and an image of the kitchen appeared, though it was currently unoccupied. "It guides me where I want to go….except it doesn't work when I go in there." Thor pointed at the black mansion sitting in the distance. "It points me in all the wrong directions, but the angel was able to show me the way to you and restrain the beast."_

 _"What does she look like?" Loki's voice squeaked, knowing what the answer would be._

 _"She has bleach white skin, like the children, you know when they aren't transformed into monsters. Do you know her?"_

 _"I think she's my mother. Is she here now? Can I talk to her?"_

 _"I don't think so. I've only seen her in this dark world that one time. One of the children told me that they saw here once but that is all."_

 _"Where else have you seen her?"_

 _"In the library. It is where she goes to rest when she is not following you."_

 _"The library. Her ashes are on the mantle. You said she was seen by one of the children...was that when he tried to pull Joseph in through the mirror?"_

 _"What mirror?"  
"The mirrors Thor! The mirrors! Think back Thor. Five years ago you walked in through a mirror and you never came out! What happened?"_

 _"I don't… I don't know. He keeps me here. I didn't mind so much in the beginning but I want to leave now. I want to be with you. He keeps me here but I don't know why. He's breaking the rules. He tried to break them with you too." Thor sat back down on the rock and pulled the stick from the fire. It was beginning to burn. It looked like some kind of charred rat. Thor picked at it before taking a hearty bite._

 _"What rules? What are you talking about?"_

 _"Only the guilty can be held here." Thor said around a mouth full of roasted critter._

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _"Eating. The children bring me ground hogs, squirrels, and sometimes quail. This is just a rat but pickings are always slim in winter."_

Loki awoke to the sound of his alarm going off. He'd set it the night before as a sort of failsafe just in case his dream was something he couldn't handle. He curses himself for his own ingenuity. Loki picked through the memory of his dream. It had been vivid and full of information. If only it had lasted a few more minutes. The end of the dream got his attention the most.

"Why would a dead man need to eat?"

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki's hands trembled as he gripped his rosary. It was so out of place in the Lutheran church in his community but he did not care. Christmas was less than two weeks away and he needed the comfort of God to give him courage to face the evil dwelling in his house. The spirit of Leslie Maywood was trying to collect his soul and keep Thor imprisoned inside that hellish version of the world.

Reverend McDowell came up to the pulpit to speak. The choir behind him was decked out in their Christmas extravaganza best. The church did not have a whole lot in the way of decorations but what it did have was beautiful and filled with much cheer.

"Let us speak tonight about the reason for the season. In this day and age when Christianity is under attack, denigrated for past crimes throughout history, let us remember why Jesus brings light into an otherwise dark and scary world." The Reverend began. Loki listened quietly with the other parishioners.

"…because human life had no value. The Romans certainly did not view human life as a sacred thing. Here on this continent Christianity spread like wildfire when it was introduced. Why? The Incas and the Mayans worshipped gods that required human sacrifice for appeasement. They also required flagellation and the people would often cut themselves and offer up their own blood to their god as a sacrifice. Now imagine what it must have meant to someone living in a world like that. A world where your neighbors had their beating hearts cut out of their chests to please God. A world where you were expected to inflict wounds upon your person to please god. Then one day a Christian missionary comes and tells you about Jesus. You see for the first time the image of a God that chose to suffer and bleed for YOU! You see, he is called the lamb for a reason. God sent down his only son to suffer and die, because he was meant to be the last person ever to die for the sake of pleasing God. Because God loves all of us in equal measure and doesn't want us to kill each other in his name. Now naysayers will point to the Crusades...and well…all I can say to that is … Oops." Loki and the other parishioners chuckled.

"Obviously the organizers of that particular event forgot the first lesson of the lamb. And for all the terrible things done in God's name both in Christianity and all the other world religions, faith in God serves a purpose in our daily lives…"

The Reverend continued his sermon but Loki lingered on the point about the value of human life and human souls. Loki couldn't help but wonder if God was trying to tell him something through the words of the good Reverend and what that message could be.

XxXxXxXxXx

"I can pawn all my jewelry. That'll get us another million dollars. Would that be enough to cover it?" Pepper asked her husband.

"The Litmans and the Morgansterns both put in calls to cash out their accounts this afternoon. I only have a few business days to cough up $24 million or the feds will show up at the office to investigate."

"Then we use the money from my jewelry to live off of. If we leave town now and move someplace with a low cost of living we can make that last the rest of our lives. They'll try to hunt us down but if we lay low and move to a country without an extradition agreement we will be okay."

"Like you would be happy living in some third world shit hole the rest of your life. No. We need money. We need a shit ton of it and we need it now."

"You can't do this. Not again. Please Tony. He's such a sweet boy."

"We may not have to. I just need that damn…THING! Loki needs to give it to me but he keeps dragging his feet!"

"Tony, I don't understand. It's just a glass sphere full bones and herbs. It can't be worth that much. I mean, is it some rare archeological artifact or something? Why do you think it is so valuable?"

"It just is! It'll fix all of our problems. I just need to get my hands on it."

"Give Emily a chance. I told her what she needs to do. She'll play along. She'll get the money for us." Pepper sounded desperate. Even she didn't sound like she believed it.

"How much? A couple of million dollars? Loki is easily worth $35 million and probably more since the kid lives like a monk and put his money in an unmanaged index fund. God damn smart fucking kid."

"We don't even know if he's done up a will yet Tony."

"We have four days to figure this shit out or we are fucked."


	21. Chapter 21

"Hey! We're here!" Mr. Stark beamed at Loki with a cheerful smile as Pepper, Emily, and Daniel dragged their luggage in from the car. None of them were smiling.

"What are you doing here?" Loki failed epically to conceal the horror on his face.

"It's Christmas buddy. We're here to spend the holiday with you."

"But Christmas isn't until next week and I haven't even finished my shopping yet."  
"That's okay, we aren't in any rush to return to the city. I've taken some vacation time. Come on kids! Let's go pick out rooms." Tony charged forward up the stairs.

"Wait! I….you can't…" Loki struggled for an explanation that did not sound completely insane as to why the Starks could not spend the night in his home.

"I'm sorry we didn't call ahead but we wanted to surprise you. I know we were dreadful to you at Thanksgiving and we wanted to make it up to you." Pepper said to him and then kissed him on the cheek.

"I…I have the rooms booked." Loki lied.

"You do? But your website said the hotel was closed for the season." Tony said.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not prepared for company."

"It'll be fine. I call dibs on that yellow room!" Tony announced. Pepper and Daniel followed him up the stairs. Emily lingered back.

"What the fuck is this all about?" Loki asked her.

"I don't know. My parents have been acting strange lately. I've given up on trying to figure them out. You have liquor yes?"

"I keep it in stock for the guests."

"Break out the spiked egg-nog. It's the only way we are going to survive this holiday with my parents." Emily said. Tony came running back down the stairs all smiles and excitement.

"Hey, let's go hang out in the library and smoke cigars!"

"No thanks but you go right ahead." Loki said. Tony darted straight to the library and Loki mentally patted himself on the back for hiding that damned orb back down in his private apartment. Although he knew it was only a matter of time before Tony made an inquiry.

"So Loki, what have you been up to lately?" Pepper asked.

"Well, decorating the house as you can see."

"It is very lovely." Pepper said. Silence followed and both stood there trying to think up a way to fill it.

"Well uh, you all must be very hungry after the long drive. I'll make dinner." Loki said and then hastily retreated. He worried for them. He knew they were all in peril especially Tony and Pepper. The mirrors had called them back, though for what reason, he could not figure out. Loki's mind churned and tumbled. He could not let them sleep here tonight. One of them would certainly die and he would never forgive himself.

Emily and Daniel went upstairs to pick out rooms, ending up in the same ones that they'd stayed in previously. Loki had no doubt they were both dragging their feet, wanting to avoid this whole awkward situation. However, Loki still could not understand WHY it was awkward.

Tony's face fell when he entered the library and did not see the orb sitting on the desk. He looked all around the room and then went into the parlor, the living room, and even the ballroom, before looping back to the dining room and then the kitchen. He debated on whether or not to ask Loki about it but his instincts told him Loki would not be forthcoming. He waited out of view for Loki to turn his back, which he did when he went to retrieve something from the fridge. Tony made a run for the basement door.

Pepper saw Tony dart through the door and distracted Loki.

"So what's for dinner?"

"I think I'll make a stuffed roasted Turkey breast with butter, orange peel, and lavender basting the inside and outside. I think some wild rice and a nice cranberry kale salad would go well with it.

"That sounds divine Loki. When did you become such a good cook?"

"It was my primary hobby while at college. Kept me away from the frat parties." Loki explained as he minced an onion.

Tony crept into Loki's private living area and looked around. He opened kitchen cabinets and cupboard doors. He pilfered through Loki's desk. He went into Loki's bedroom and rummaged around in Loki's dresser and found nothing. His blood boiled in his veins as he entered the second bedroom, ready to lose his temper. The orb sat on top of a dresser as though it was nothing important. As though it wasn't the most powerful object in the known universe. At least, that's how Tony regarded it.

He snatched the orb off the dresser, palming it possessively and peered at its contents. He could everything so clearly now. He needed to kill his wife. She's going to leave him anyway. Why not collect her life insurance? But he'll do that after he kills Loki. He just needs to make sure that he has willed everything to Tony if he dies.

Tony crept back up the stairs, pausing at a particularly loud creek of the wood. He spied Loki in the kitchen through a crack in the door. Pepper had positioned herself between Loki's line of sight and the basement.

"Good girl." Tony whispered. Loki turned his back to fetch something from the cupboard and Tony made his move. Loki turned back to the stove and suddenly Tony was there.

"Whoa! Where'd you come from?"

"The Upper East Side." Tony grinned keeping one hand on the counter and the other behind Pepper's back. He place the orb in her hands.

"I need to use the facilities. It was a long drive. Be right back." She said and then ran towards the stairs, stuffing the orb into her large purse.

"Pepper!" She stopped in her tracks, looking back at Loki with a guilty expression.

"There's a bathroom down here under the stairs." Loki pointed in the general direction and turned back to the turkey breast he was trussing.

"Oh! Thank you." She muttered.

"So Loki, what do you want for Christmas?" Tony asked. A smile ghosted across Loki's lips as he thought about an evening with Thor in the flesh.

"Oh I don't know. I don't really need anything. A new scarf maybe or a new toy for the kitchen."

"I'll head out into town tomorrow and see if I can find something."

"Please don't. Please don't trouble yourself. Tony…It's really not safe for you and the family to be here."

"Safe? What do you mean by that?"

"You know that bad things have happened to some of my guests here."

"Don't be so paranoid Loki. Those were freak accidents and bad timing, but if you're worried about death you should draw up a will."

"I have. I've already lined up some very deserving charities if the worst should happen to me." Loki said absently as he focused his efforts on toasting up the wild rice in butter. Tony did his best to mask his facial expressions. "Mr. Stark, why are you cutting off Emily?"

"She told you about that?"

"Yeah. Look I know she's been slacking in school but now is the time to push her forward, not pull the rug out from underneath her. What will she do without an education?"

"I'm better off investing my money elsewhere." Tony said coldly. The fact was, there was no money. Mr. Stark had diverted everything to pay off skittish investors.

"How can you say that? She's your daughter. Aren't you worried about what will happen to her? She told me she good for nothing but being a trophy wife."

"Emily always was more honest than the rest of us." Tony said.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing. Hey ah, I'm going to hang out in the library until dinner is ready."

"Fine by me." Loki said. Temporarily alone, Loki took the time to think about what Tony was after. A sinking feeling balled up in his stomach and he decided he needed to check on the orb in the basement. He poured the water in for the rice and put the lid on it and headed downstairs for a quick check. In the spare bedroom on the dresser sat an empty cradle.

"Shit!" Loki's hand trembled in anger and frustration. He had no choice but to confront Mr. Stark about stealing the orb and then fighting with him over it. "God damned fucking motherfucker fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" He paced back and forth trying to decide what to do. No matter how he approached this it was going to be ugly.

He didn't want to start the argument now while he was in the middle of cooking dinner. They'd probably wind up burning down the house. He'd have to confront Tony afterwards or maybe…maybe not at all. Odds were he'd stashed the damn thing in his room in his luggage. He could just steal it back.

Loki ran back upstairs. The kitchen was still empty so he headed into the parlor where he found Emily and Pepper watching a chick movie. Further down the hall Tony and Daniel were in the library enjoying all the little trinkets in the room. Now might be his only opportunity. Loki made the decision and ran upstairs to the yellow room.

Quick as a snake he unzipped Tony's bags and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for.

"Fucking predictable." Loki frowned at the accursed object.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Tony growled. Loki closed his eyes in defeat.

"God damn it. Fine. You want a confrontation, you'll get one. What is THIS doing in your luggage?" Loki turned round to stare the older man down.

"I decided to collect my Christmas present early. Is that a crime?"

"It is when I haven't officially gifted it to you."  
"Are you saying I can't have it?"

"I am."

"Oh Loki. You should know by now, I always get what I want." Tony charged at Loki knocking him on his back. Daniel came into the room, having followed his father out of curiosity. The orb slipped from Loki's grip and rolled under the bed to the other side.

"Whoa! Dad stop! Guys stop! Stop hitting each other! What are you doing? Stop!" Daniel cried and tried to get between them.

"Hold him down son." Tony kicked Loki in the ribs. He dived over the bed and landed on his ass on the floor on the other side, scooping up the orb.

"Put that down!" Loki yelled.

"Fuck you! It's mine!"

"Dad what the hell are you doing?!" Daniel cried. Pepper and Emily burst into the room, having heard the commotion downstairs. Tony ogled his prize as he stood before the large wall mirror, grinning like a mad man.

"Tony! What is wrong with you?" Pepper.

"You know damn well what is wrong with me Pepper! We need this!" He hissed. The four of them stood there and stared at him, not knowing what to do.

The hair on the back of Loki's neck stood on end as he noticed the reflection in the mirror behind Tony. A little albino girl with glowing red eyes was standing there staring at him.

"Tony! Get away from the mirror Tony." Loki warned. Pepper, Emily, and Daniel saw her then and all shrieked with fright.

"Tony! Tony baby behind you!" Pepper cried. Tony slowly turned around. He didn't see a little girl. He saw a room. A wonderful golden room filled with gold coins. It was worth a fortune! He'd never need to worry about money again.

"Would you look at that?" He smiled and walked into the looking glass. Pepper, Emily, and Daniel all screamed and then ran after him. Loki grabbed Emily's hand to stop her.

"Don't! Don't go in there! You won't come out!"  
"I have to! I have to try to save him Loki. He's my dad!" She said. Loki wouldn't loosen his grip on her arm and she punched him in the gut. Loki watched in horror as his friend disappeared into the mirror.


	22. Chapter 22

Loki stood there alone, his heart pounding in his chest. The turkey was still in the oven and the rice was still boiling on the stove. If he went in there after them, he might not come out. He did know what to do.

"Mother, I am desperately in need of your guidance." Loki said to the empty room. Seconds ticked by without an answer.

"Hail Mary full of grace…." Loki turned on his heel and left the room as he recited every prayer he knew. He went to the kitchen and turned off the stove and oven. Then he went down to the basement to grab the orb cradle just in case he needed it for some reason. He grabbed his rosary and he clutched the alabaster amulet hanging about his neck. Come what may he would get his friends out of there.

He ran back up the stairs and into the yellow room and stood before the mirror. It was solid again.

"I know damn well I don't need to be asleep to get in there. So let me in." Loki sneered at his reflection. It smiled back. The whole mirror glowed with a bright white light and Loki stepped forth into the unknown.

Once on the other side Loki was greeted by a ghastly scene. A giant toad creature, at least 12 feet high and just as wide filled half the room on one side. Its green-brown slimy skin made an unpleasant sound whenever the toad shifted or moved even a little. Its giant red glowing eyes and huge gaping mouth were horrific. Located directly in front of the creature was a table. Pepper, Daniel, and Emily were all sitting at it and what they were doing screamed of insanity.

"Mmm. Loki! Come join us! These taste awesome!" Emily said around a mouth full of gold coins. Her mouth was bleeding from broken teeth. Pepper's and Daniel's were too. There was another table in the room and laid out on top of it was Mr. Stark. Bound to the four corners of the table by his arms and legs, Mr. Stark just laid there staring at the ceiling. He looked pale, almost dead.

"Welcome to my Kingdom." Loki looked to the far side of the room. There, sitting upon a golden throne of gilded human bones was a man who looked very similar to the man in the painting downstairs. To his left stood a dark woman that Loki had only seen twice in his dreams; Mwanawa.

"Leslie Maywood." Loki said. Mwanawa's face was blank and expressionless as she watched Loki enter deeper into the room.

"So you're the skinny Nancy that has evaded my pets." Maywood said. He looked skeletal as though he'd been kept alive for far too long. His pale sickly skin did not intimidate or inspire fear. His blue eyes, so like Thor's were sunken in and his golden hair had lost its luster long ago. He looked like a parody of a King, pathetic, almost childish. He even had a crown on his head that looked like something that came from Chucky Cheese. However, Loki's gaze diverted to Mwanawa. Something about her standing there beside the throne, looking poised and powerful got his attention. Their eyes met and Loki knew who was really in charge in this place.

The black dog came padding up and sat beside her and she reached down to pet its head. It licked her hand lovingly and leaned into her leg. Mwanawa pulled out the orb and placed it into her "King's" hand. Maywood gave a drunken smile and began singing a happy tune, his mind now far afield. "You must not like me very much." Loki said to her. Her eyes narrowed.

"You are smarter than most and more observant Mr. Laufeyson. But you do not know everything. There are truths that have been hidden from you. Would you like to know who killed your parents?" Dread curled in Loki's gut. He couldn't trust anything this woman showed him. She wanted him to react.

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me whether I want to hear it or not."

"Like I said, you're smart." A cloud formed above their heads and in the mist Loki watched the image take shape. It was the train platform scene from the VHS security tape. Only this was clear, detailed, and closer. He saw his mother and father looking happy, healthy, and very much in love. They were holding hands and talking about something.

"The numbers don't make any sense Frigga. I'm almost certain it's a Ponzi scheme."

"But the division you're talking about is headed up by Tony." Frigga said.

"I know. I don't know what to do dear heart. He's my best friend, but if I don't come forward now, I'll get caught up in the scandal when it eventually goes public. At some point he'll get caught. I'm amazed it didn't happen already."

"You're a very loyal man sweetheart. You defend those you love with everything you have, but he is forcing you to choose between him and your family. If you are implicated we lose everything, and you have a moral obligation to your investors." Frigga said. The hooded man appeared, leaning against the subway wall a dozen feet behind them. For the first time Loki got a good look at his face.

It was Mr. Stark.

"No." Loki felt the unwanted tears welling up as he watched what he knew was coming next. Tony pulled the strings of the hoodie tighter around his face to better obscure it. A train approached and the vibrating of the train tracks filled Loki's ears. Tony lunged forward running at full speed and pushed his parents in front of the train.

Odin's stunned look of betrayal and recognition only lasted a millisecond as he twisted his body to protect Frigga and both were smeared on the ground below.

"It's a lie. It's not true!" Loki yelled out. He looked around him. The purple horse was near him, off to his left. Loki nearly vomited at the sight of it when he saw that it had Victoria's face. Standing next to it was a disgusting boar creature. It looked like Mr. Williams.

"Oh God! Mr. Williams." Loki stifled a sob. A fat snake like worm creature slithered around Loki's foot and he jumped back horrified by the grotesque fusion of animal and Mr. Mullens. It reared up like a cobra about to strike and hissed at Loki through human teeth before wiggling off to join the others. Loki noticed the three albino children hiding behind Mwanawa's skirts, their eyes no longer red.

A heavy wooden door opened and the lust demon came in, dragging a great hammer behind it. The hammer looked as little more than a cinderblock on the end of a big gnarly wooden handle. Behind the hammer was the bear. It stood on its hind legs, looking predatory and formative. It roared when it looked at Loki.

"This man murdered your parents Mr. Laufeyson. He and his family profited from their deaths all while petting you on the head and telling you that they cared about you." Mwanawa said. The lust demon stood before Loki and lifted up the hammer. Loki took a step back expecting it to strike him, but it stretched the hammer out to him in offering. Loki stared at the creature for a moment and when it snarled at him Loki jumped and took the thing from it. The lust demon then took up its position with the other creatures.

The great toad behind the Starks made a loud croaking sound. Loki turned and saw that Pepper was blue. Her belly was so swollen with gold coins that her dress had ripped from the strain. She looked nine months pregnant. The great toad's tongue whipped out and wrapped its sticky tongue around her, chair and all, lifted her corpse up into the air and swallowed her body whole. Daniel and Emily did not look to be far behind.

Loki looked at his friend. He understood now what was going on. Daddy was cutting her off because the money was all gone, not because of her bad grades. Her fight with her mother in the kitchen back on Thanksgiving had probably been about him. No doubt the Starks wanted her to hustle some money out of him and she'd said no. She's pushed him away because she didn't want to take advantage of him.

He looked at Daniel and he wondered how much the guy knew. He'd been working with Tony at the firm for a few months now. He had to have learned something. His gaze then returned to Tony, strapped down on the table.

"You. You murdered my parents. You son of a bitch! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Loki screamed. "You held my hand at their funerals! You hugged me and told me that they'd catch the guy. You pretended to care about me when all you were doing was spying on me to see if the investigation was getting anywhere. You kept yourself in the loop with the police by becoming my guardian and the police had no reason to suspect! You evil bastard! You deserve this…this…this HELL!" Loki walked round the table to the end where Mr. Stark's head was located, gripping the hammer like a baseball player getting ready to go to bat.

He could feel all the creatures behind him watching him. He felt the hot breath of the bear behind him. Rage coursed through Loki as he looked down at the pale dying face of the man that killed his father, killed his mother.

"You son of a bitch you took everything from me. I hate you. Of all the things I dreamed I would do to you…things I fantasized about doing to you if I got the chance…" Loki lifted up the hammer, lifted it high. He gritted his teeth and SLAMMED the hammer down. It landed next to Tony's head, missing it entirely.

"I forgive you." Loki whispered. "For my soul…for my heart I forgive you. For my sake not yours I forgive you. I forgive your wife. I forgive your children, and I forgive myself for letting this pain torment me for so long. I forgive you and commend your punishment to the hands of God, who shall judge you as only He can."

"NOOOOO!" Mwanawa yelled. The bear behind him roared and swatted Loki to the ground. He dropped the hammer, not that it mattered. The great toad whipped its tongue out again and plucked Tony's body off the table. His bones, muscles, and ligaments all snapped and his hands and feet were left behind, still tied to the table as the monster swallowed him up. His screams filled the room until he was gone.

"If you won't kill him to avenge your parents then you will kill his children to save the one you love!" She screeched.

Thor appeared, materializing out of thin air. He was bound and gagged and so very afraid.

"You will either kill your friends or we will kill your love." She said.

"Bullshit."

"What?"

"I said no you deaf stupid bitch! You're breaking the rules. I passed your fucking test. You can't entrap me now and turn me into one of your little pets. It doesn't work that way! Now you will tell me under what authority you have managed to keep Thor trapped here. He obviously didn't fall for any of your temptations either or he would look like them!" Loki pointed at the creatures huddled together on the side.

"I need your soul to set one of the other children free. The seven children of my village including my own son are still enslaved to this…this power hungry fiend." She gestured to Maywood. "He doesn't care who he has under his thumb so long as he has someone under his thumb. My babies were innocents when they were enslaved to him! These people deserve to live in this damnation." She pointed at the semi-human animal creatures.

"But why Thor? Hmm? Is it because he's Maywood's great grandson? Why do you keep him here? He's done nothing wrong!"

"For the exact reason you stated, because he is the last of Maywood's line. Keeping him here pleases me." She said.

"He could leave if he figuref out how. You've kept his mind muddled like you keep his muddled, but I have a feeling your tricks won't work on me."

"No, they haven't." She sneered. A light shown down on Loki then and it was coming from a source Loki had long forgotten. The stained glass window and the end of the secret hallway appeared. Like before the heavenly scene depicted in the glass brought Loki comfort. The way out was always close by.

"Long is the way and narrow is the path that lead up to righteousness and few there be that find it." Loki said, mostly to himself. A form materialized in the stream of light coming from the window. The outline of hair and shoulders came first, followed by the torso and legs. The face filled in and Loki looked upon his mother for the first time in over five years.

"Mother."

"Loki sweetheart. The answer to the children's salvation is the same as it was for yours. No one need substitute for their place in order for them to leave. Come to me children and forgive. Forgive the man that enslaved you and leave this all behind."

"NO! Shut up! Shut up!" Mwanawa cried. The children and the creatures all looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

It was the lust demon that made the first move. It approached Frigga and Loki jumped in front of her to block it. But he felt the gentle pressure of her hand upon his arm.

"It's alright son. Step aside." She said. The lust demon knelt before her and transformed into a little girl. She looked up at Loki with big eyes.

"I'm sorry I tried to hurt you." She said, timid and small. Loki's breath caught and he knelt down to talk to the little girl at eye level.

"It's alright. I forgive you. Do you forgive Mr. Maywood for what happened to you?"

"Yes. Can I go home now?" She asked.

"Yes you can sweetheart. You see that bright light behind me? I want you to walk into it and don't look back okay?" Frigga said.

"Will the others come too?" She asked.

"That is up to them." Frigga said.

"No! No! Stop!" Mwanawa yelled. But the other creatures moved toward the light, each transforming into children and adults. Each seeking their place in a proper afterlife. The bear turned into a little boy.

"What's your name?" Loki asked him.

"I was never given one. They killed me the day I was born." He said.

"Walk towards the light little one." Frigga instructed. He ran towards it and disappeared. The boar creature was up next and it transformed into Mr. Williams.

"Well Loki, if not for you I'd been trapped here for God knows how long. See you…later. Much later I hope. Eat a giant turkey leg for me." He said and waddled into the light. Mr. Mullens came next, then Victoria, both looking worried about having to meet their maker. Still, the promise of the white light looked far better than their current surroundings and they took the leap. The toad creature shrunk down, down, down until it turned into a little girl. She skipped up to Loki and smiled.

"I'm not sorry I ate them. They were bad people."

"Young lady, you'll have to atone for that." Frigga scolded.

"I know, but I forgive Mr. Maywood. I'm tired of being mad at him all the time." She said and then skipped off into the light. The ones that came next brought Loki to his knees. In all the commotion he failed to notice that Emily and Daniel had died. Like Pepper their bellies were distended from eating gold coins.

"Emily no. Not you too." Loki sobbed.

"I don't know if I can forgive myself for what my family did to you and yours Loki. I didn't know. I swear I didn't know." She cried.

"I didn't know either man. I'm sorry." Daniel said behind her. Loki fell into a fit of tears.

"You didn't deserve this. You didn't have to die!"

"I might not have killed your parents Loki but I certainly benefitted from it, and I, I was willing to lie to you, to get you to pay for my schooling. I am very much like my parents, and I need to atone for that." She said. Daniel nodded his agreement behind her. They held each other's hands and walked into the light.

All that remained was Mwanawa, Maywood, and the green-eyed dog. The dog leapt up from his spot and barked before transforming into a boy.

"No! Don't leave me!" Mwanawa cried, reaching out for him. The boy looked back at his mother.

"I'm tired mommy. I want to go home. I don't like it here."

"Please don't leave me baby!"  
"I'm not. You can come too." The boy said with a small voice. "Please mommy. Come with me." His mother sobbed. She wanted to follow him but forgiveness was something beyond her grasp. Loki walked up to her.

"I know how you feel. Believe me I know. But haven't you suffered enough? Heaven is waiting for you. Walk away from this darkness. You deserve peace." He said to her.

"I can't! How did you do it? How did you forgive that man for murdering the people you love?"

"The energy it takes to hate someone is exhausting. At some point you have to put your faith in God that he will punish those that deserve it."

"I don't know if I can." She sobbed.

"You can. I know you can. Look at him. This is it for him. His power is now gone. His slaves have escaped their master. He has no power now, except over you. Don't let him rule you anymore." Loki said. They looked up at Maywood who was still staring into the orb and singing softly to himself.

"A better world awaits you. Let the devil have him." Loki said. Mwanawa sobbed hard but nodded her head. Her hot tears streamed down her face as Loki guided her towards his mother. She took the woman into her arms.

"A mother will do anything to protect her child from harm, even walking through hell with him." Frigga said to her. "Say the words dear heart, and mean them."

Mwanawa turned round to face Lord Leslie Maywood one last time and spoke the words to free her soul, "I forgive you."

The two women and the boy faded away and the orb in Maywood's hand glowed red hot. The seal on the top cracked open and the lid came off. Loki ran for Thor, who was still bound and gagged upon the floor. The world around them was crumbling. Loki grabbed a knife from off one of the tables and cut the ropes around Thor's legs and then his wrists. Thor pulled the cloth out of his mouth.

"You're still here." Loki said.

"We won't be if we don't get the hell out of here."  
"Follow me." Loki and Thor ran towards the mirror as the walls came down and crushed Lord Maywood on his gilded throne, his body turning to dust. Loki took hold of Thor's hand as he leapt through the mirror.

The two men landed on the floor on the other side, in the yellow room. The mirror glowed with a bright light like an explosion and then all was quiet. The two men looked up at the mirror expecting to see that it was broken, but it wasn't. It looked as though nothing had happened. The men stared at each other.

A long moment passed where they breathed silently. Loki reached out to touch the dog tags dangling around Thor's neck. His hand then went to feel the firm flesh of Thor's chest and the beat of the heart within it.

"You're alive."

"I told you I was." The men embraced, feeling real touch for the first time.

 **Up next is some decompression time for Loki and Thor. Some Q &A between the two and some sexy time. If you have any unresolved questions you'd like Loki to ask Thor, now is the time. **


	23. Chapter 23

Thor's skin was covered in grime and he smelled.

"Whew! Let's get you a shower big boy." Loki smiled like he hadn't smiled in years. He led Thor into the bathroom which was large and luxurious. Loki's heart was glad for it and swelled with pride. He wanted to pamper the shit out of Thor. He started the bath and poured a generous amount of bubble bath into the hot steaming water. Thor watched him with a warm smile. He kept taking deep breaths, relishing the taste and smell of fresh living air. He didn't even know he was missing it.

His stomach growled loud enough to be heard over the rushing of the bath water and Loki turned and chuckled.

"I'm going to finish roasting that turkey breast. I need to run downstairs and turn the oven back on. I'll be right back." Loki left Thor to his privacy and darted downstairs. Everywhere he looked he saw little reminders of the Starks. A pulled out chair or a half empty glass of water. Emily and Daniel's bodies had been destroyed in the mirror realm. Aside from their luggage and their car there was no trace that the Starks were ever here. There were no bodies to recover.

For a moment he felt overwhelmed so he let himself cry. Thor was a big boy and he could bathe himself. He checked the rice which was half-cooked yet mushy from sitting in the water. He tossed it and pulled out the instant mashed potatoes and a packet of instant gravy. Thor would probably eat all of it and ask for seconds.

He poured himself a drink. Lord knows he'd earned it. It only took five minutes for the mashed potatoes and gravy to be ready. The turkey still had another 20 minutes to go. Loki went back upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Come in." Thor called. Loki entered and saw a glorious sight. Thor looked beautiful. The water was disgusting and brown but he looked amazing. He'd even shaved his face and the baby soft young face was handsome. Loki felt weak in the knees.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I hope you like turkey and mashed potatoes."

"It's like Thanksgiving. Of course I'll like it." Thor smiled. Loki looked down at the pile of disgusting dirty clothes on the floor.

"Oh…um… let me find you something clean to wear." Loki picked up the dirty clothes and left the bathroom again. Loki mentally inventoried every scrap of clothing he owned but knew nothing would fit Thor. It was then he noticed Tony's luggage on the bed.

Tony was much closer in size to Thor than Loki was, at least in the waist. Loki put the dirty clothes down for a moment and riffled through Mr. Starks things, finding a nice set of sweat pants and a white t-shirt that would work. He took the folded items in to Thor.

"Here, I think these will fit." He said.

"Well, if they don't I'll just have to walk around here naked." Thor grinned. Loki swallowed hard. The exhaustion really hit hard then. Emotionally, Loki felt completely drained, and Thor saw it in his face.

"You've endured much these past many weeks. You look tired. Tonight, after dinner you and I will fall asleep in each other's arms. Only sleep. Okay?" Thor said. Loki nodded. He'd like that.

"You've endured a lot the past five years. How do you feel?" Loki asked.

"Alive. Energetic even. Hungry. I can't tell you how good this bath feels." Thor said as he scrubbed his feet vigorously.

"Here let me get your back." Loki said. He knelt beside the large claw foot tub with a washcloth and a big bar of Irish Spring soap and lathered the hell out of it. He scrubbed Thor down everywhere the man couldn't reach himself. Thor moaned at the pleasurable touch.

"Keep that up and your dinner will burn." Loki smiled. "I'll let you finish up. I'm going to check on the turkey." Loki left, taking the dirty clothes with him downstairs. He tossed them down to the basement next to the washing machine, not that he thought they were salvageable. He pulled the turkey breast from the oven and cut off all the little strings he used to tie it up into a neat little roll. It carved beautifully, making pinwheel slices of succulent meat flavored with orange, lavender, and butter. As Loki was spooning up the mashed potatoes Thor came down the stairs looking like a summer sky and smelling like the forest.

Loki forgot to breathe. Thor's stomach growled again and Loki put his plate down at the table. Thor sat down and dived right in like a soldier in the middle of a combat zone. Within seconds the plate was empty.

"More?" Loki asked.

"Please!" Thor said with stuffed chipmunk cheeks. Loki took the plate and was back in a flash, this time with it overflowing with turkey and more mashed potatoes. Thor ate it all.

"Would you like something to drink? Soda or something?"

"Ice water. I've missed ice." Thor said. Instantly a joke sprang to Loki's mind about people in hell wanting ice water and he almost chuckled. He brought Thor his beverage and sat down beside him.

"Aren't you hungry?" Thor asked around a mouth full of food. He merely shook his head.

"Today's events have robbed me of my appetite." Loki said. Thor downed his beverage and then looked at Loki expectantly.

"So now what do you want to do?"

"Sleep. And cry." Loki said.

"Okay." They headed down to the basement. Thor looked around what was once his old room. It had not changed much except for a few personal items and the new occupant is was just as he had left it. He looked a Loki and laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I like the new addition."  
"What new addition?"

"You." Thor climbed into bed with Loki and snuggled up close to the man. Loki curled around Thor like a cat, resting his raven head on Thor's massive chest, his arm draped across Thor's midsection. Loki let the tears come. His friend Emily was dead, his parents murdered by people he had trusted. Those children suffering in torment for so long. His mother…if only he'd had a few minutes with her alone to tell her all the things inside his heart.

Thor held his savior in his arms. For the first time in five years he feels awake, like it was all a twisted nightmare dotted with wonderful moments from Loki's visits. It has been a long time since Thor had a linear thought. He's so used to jumping backwards and forwards in time. He thought of Ernie and an acceptance fell over him. He's obsessed enough over what happened. He will dwell on it no more.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki awoke to the unfamiliar sensation of a large warm body cradling his. It was an exquisite sensation. He hummed his approval and squeezed even closer to Thor taking in the man's scent and touch. Loki's morning glory pressed firmly to Thor's thigh. Thor opened his eyes and looked down at his love.

"Good morning." He said. Loki smiled into Thor's chest, rubbing his cheek against the harden nipple through the cotton fabric.

"Mmm."

Thor hand drew little circles with his fingers on the small of Loki's back as the other held Loki's hand. Thor's morning wood was stiff and proud beneath the soft bulky comforter. Loki looked up at Thor and moved his head to kiss him. It was a lazy kiss, filled with the knowledge that there was no rush now. They could lay here like this all day if they wanted. Thor felt his passion stir and he pulled Loki completely on top of him. Thor's fingers found Loki's hair and they kissed for what felt like hours. Their erections rubbed against each other and Loki's body jumped from the unexpected pleasure.

He sat up, straddling Thor and pulled off his shirt. Thor hands flew to the creamy flesh and mapped its contours. His thumb raked over a nipple and Loki's breath hitched. Thor repeated the action, making the pink nub harden and pebble. Loki hands raked under Thor's shirt, caressing his taut abs and making him jump a bit.

"Ticklish." His deep voice rumbled. Loki chuckled but continued up. Thor sat up slightly and Loki helped him remove his shirt.

"So beautiful." Loki's eyes hooded with desire. Thor's was as well. Thor reached for Loki's erection and palmed it through his boxers.

"SSSSah!" Loki arched at the unexpected touch. Thor gently freed Loki's cock and began stroking it. Loki hands scrambled for a moment, eager to reciprocate the touch, but Thor's cock was poking him in the butt, so Loki ground his hips down.

"I…"

"Shhh love. You don't need to do anything. Let me touch you. Close your eyes and just feel." Thor said. Loki did. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back as Thor's calloused hand wrapped and dragged slowly up and down his cock. His whole body tingled and he felt like he was going to tremble until he fell to pieces. He opened his eyes and looked back down into Thor's, seeing nothing but admiration and arousal.

"So lovely." Thor whispered. The men locked gazes as Thor continued to stroke Loki, slow and deliberate. Loki's breathing got shallower and shallower and his thighs twitched.

"Please." He quietly begged. Thor surprised Loki, flipping him onto his back. With Thor now above him, he slinked down Loki's body until his mouth was hovering above his hips.

"Thor?"

"Shh. Let me taste you." Thor took him into his mouth and Loki cried the pleasure was so painful. Loki felt his orgasm building and could not contain his shouts.

"Thor! Oh God! Thor! I'm coming. I'm coming darling oh God!" Loki spilled into Thor's mouth, which the golden man sucked down with reverence. Loki shuddered and whined from the sensitivity. Thor stroked Loki's thigh as he rode out the high.

"That was…that was…"

"Way better than dream sex."

"Fuck yes. Oh Thor…I want to make love to you. I want to suck your dick and ride you and make you scream my name." Loki panted.

"Okay." Thor grinned. The men laid there for a moment and giggled at one another.

"Lie down." Loki ordered.

"Yes sir!" Thor said. Loki scooted down the bed and hooked his fingers into the waistband of Thor's pants and slid them off. Loki has seen Thor's cock before but it never fails to impress him. It is meaty and massive in both length and girth and yet silky softness and firm shaft all in one.

"Your dick is perfect." Loki said. Loki took it in hand and licked a long strip up from balls to tip before engulfing it in his mouth. It was Thor's turn to babble and arch. Taking on Thor's cock was no small effort. Loki opened his jaw as wide as it would go and relaxed his throat as much as he could, but once Loki got the large rod down past the back of his throat he felt pride when he was the shocked look in Thor's eyes. Loki clenched his throat muscles and hummed.

"Oh!" Thor bucked his hips and came. When he was done, Loki pulled off the softening cock and curled up next to Thor. They held hands, comparing the sizes and shapes of their fingers.

"Look at you with your long beautiful spider fingers."

"I like yours better. Large and rough. Do you know how wonderful it feels when you touch me?"

"As wonderful as it feels when you touch me." They moved to their sides and faced one another and spent the morning memorizing every mole, scar, imperfection, and hair follicle. Eventually the call of nature and hunger dragged them both out of bed.


	24. Chapter 24

Loki stared at the Stark's car. He knew it was only a matter of time before Tony's fraud was exposed and the feds came looking. Of course they'll be looking for a man and his family fleeing from indictment and federal prison, not a dead man whose body is not recoverable. At least he did not have to worry about that. Hiding four bodies would have been more than a headache.

But this car was just as much a headache. He thought about ditching it but if he got caught on any surveillance camera anywhere driving it the cops would be breaking down his door demanding answers. No he thought it better to concoct a simple lie. He would keep the car hidden and IF the feds showed up he would tell them that yes the Starks had been here. But then he would also lie and say that they'd snuck away in the night without explanation and abandoned the car at his home. Of course they wouldn't believe him and would probably bug his phone. But he knew it would yield them nothing. That was the plan, for now. Loki took the Stark's luggage and put it in the car also. It was best to have all the incriminating evidence in one location.

Loki ran into town and bought Thor a set of clothing, underwear, and shoes just so that they could run out into town again and buy more clothing, underwear, and shoes. Thor had a lot of business to attend to. It had been over five years since he was last seen by anyone. At the seven year mark a person can be declared legally dead. Thor went to his bank to confirm his account was still in order, which it was thankfully.

More awkwardly, however, was the look on Mr. Gotz's face when they ran into him at the grocery store.

"Mr. Odinson!" The man looked like he'd seen a ghost, especially since the former owner of Maywood Manor was standing next to the current owner of Maywood Manor. Loki could tell the man was imagining one hell of an unpleasant confrontation.

"Mr. Gotz, how are you?" Thor asked with a warm genuine smile.

"I'm fine but where have you been? Everyone was out looking for you! Your house went up for auction. Everyone thought that you died. The police got involved." He eyes shifted back and forth between Loki and Thor.

"Yes I know. Do not fret, the fault was my own. My mental instability and PTSD got the better of me and I went on a drug binge the last few years. I've been living as a crazy homeless man until I found help at a church. They got me clean and into treatment. A few days ago I found my way home and Loki was kind enough to take me in when he realized who I was. I am trying to reintegrate into the normal world."

"Oh! Well, I wish you luck on your healing. I am glad to see you are unharmed."

"Don't worry Mr. Gotz. I am taking good care of him." Loki said with a smile. He looped his arm around Thor's shoulder and Thor smiled down at him in a way that made Mr. Gotz do a double take. He made an uncomfortable sound as he cleared his throat and moved on to the produce section. Loki laughed wickedly once Mr. Gotz was out of sight.

"I thought he was going to have a coronary right here in the store." Loki chuckled. Thor looked back to make sure the man was not listening.

"Do you think he bought it?" Thor muttered.

"It was a better story than I could have come up with, and it's believable." Loki said.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki bought a very large pizza covered with every kind of meat the pizzeria kept in stock. He felt like being lazy tonight. He turned on the television to a football game. He had no idea who was playing but he knew Thor would enjoy it. They curled up on the couch with a six pack of beer on the coffee table and got comfortable in each other's arms.

Thor enjoyed the game but his attention was on Loki. Their fingers kept worming their ways into each other's clothing. Finger tips danced across taut abdomens and a breath hitched. The beer was abandoned. Fingers then flew up to hair and tongues intertwined. In their eagerness Thor stood up and Loki jumped up after, wrapping his legs around Thor's waist. Large burly hands cupped a small firm ass as hardened shafted begged to be freed of their denim prisons.

"Upstairs or downstairs?" Thor asked in a roughened voice.

"Downstairs. I have lube down there." Loki said. Thor let Loki down and the rushed down the stairs, groping as they went. They pulled at t-shirts and unbuttoned buttons while kicking of shoes. One flew across the room and broke…something.

"Shit, that sounded expensive." Loki giggled.

"Oops." Thor covered Loki's mouth with his. They climbed into bed letting bare skin rub against bare skin. Loki groaned into the kiss.

"Mmm. You're so delicious." Thor said. Loki blindly reached to his nightstand in search of his lube, his hand patting around until he felt the familiar shape. He presented it to Thor.

"I've waited long enough. Make me a man." Loki said.

"Have you ever put your cock inside another person?" Thor asked.

"No."

"Then the one needing the lube is me."

"But I want you inside me, on top of me. I want to feel your body crushing mine."

"Alright. Spread your legs love." Thor said. Loki bent his knees up and apart and presented his body to Thor. Thor leaned back on his haunches to apply the thick perfumed oil. Loki's eyes were hooded but vulnerable and even glazed over a bit with desire and unshed tears.

"Tell me what you're thinking Loki." Thor said and he began rubbing a small circle of oil over the surface of Loki anus with the pad of his fingertip.

"I thought you were dead. I never thought this would ever happen."

"Nor I. I was so desperate to get to you. In my distress, I saw you here in this room. Through sheer force of will I reached out between that world and this one to let you feel my touch. It shouldn't have been possible."

"Could you feel any of it?"

"Only a fraction of what I am feeling now. Mostly it was the thought of you that made me come, not the sensations. What about you did you feel anything?" Thor pressed his finger into Loki's relaxed ring, making him keen.

"I could feel your body but I couldn't hold you. At the end you disappeared and I clung to a pillow for comfort." Loki arched slightly when Thor added a second finger and scissored them.

"I'll cuddle you after." Thor said. Loki moans from his ministrations of working him open. Thor's meaty length stood proud and ready, leaking hard and red.

"I love you."

"I love you too. You saved me Loki. You saved me from Hell."

"You saved me also. I might have fallen for that lust creature's charms had I not already devoted my heart to you."

"No you wouldn't have. You're not the type that'll fuck anything that walks. If you're heart isn't involved, you won't stick your dick in it." Thor said.

"You do know me." Loki moaned as Thor added a third finger.

"You're so beautiful." Thor leaned down and pecked a kiss on Loki's dick, which twitched at the contact. Thor removed his fingers then and grasped his own, lining it up for penetration.

"Ooh!" Loki moaned as Thor stuffed him.

"Oh god Loki!" The immense tightness on his large member was almost enough to make Thor come instantly. He stopped his movements to catch his breath.

"I don't know if I'm going to last long." Thor said.

"We have all night. We can do this as many times as we want." Loki pulled Thor completely down on top of him and whispered into his ear. "I want you to fill me with your come, over and over again all night. Tomorrow we should walk around the house naked all day and you can fuck me in every room, bend me over all the furniture."

Thor growled and thrust forward hard.

"Ah! Yes!" Loki cried out. Thor set a brutal pace, pounding into his lover, his love, his Loki. Loki tangled one hand into golden hair as the other raked nails up and down a bronzed rippling back. The sweat they perspire mingles and slicks up their bellies which press and rub against Loki's cock, giving him blissful friction.

Thor dips down to capture Loki's lips in quick unsteady distracted kisses. His brow furrows with effort and concentration as he angles his body to strike Loki's insides perfectly.

"We should do this on the stone bench beneath the stained glass window. It'll be our altar. It'll be our church." Loki said.

"Fuck I love you!" Thor growled again. The sound went straight to Loki's cock and he came like a roaring lion.

"AHHHH!" White fluid spilled between them, soiling their flesh. Loki's entrance clamped down on Thor's length and the golden man released inside his raven beauty, spilling the seed deep. He collapsed on top of Loki, and the lithe pale man relished the feeling. Thor panted for a few moments before finding Loki's mouth and kissing him. Loki kept his legs wrapped around Thor's hips until the blood drained from them and he lost sensation.

"Merry Christmas Thor."

"Merry Christmas Loki."

Thor pulled out of Loki and curled up behind him, spooning him. The large man's frame enveloped his backside in heat and fell asleep, and all was right with the world.

 **The End.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this story. For those that are interested, I am actually going back and rewriting this story from the beginning. It started out with an original female character and I will be returning to it. Thanks to the feedback from my readers I have worked out some plot kinks and also figured out some things I'll want/need to change in my original work. I have a lot of work ahead of me to fix grammatical mistakes, POV problems, and logic consistencies but writing it with Loki first helped me a lot. I'm shooting for getting my first story ever published, maybe on Amazon Kindle...wish me luck.**


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